Renewable Revolution

October 30, 2017 by Reuters


The photo provided by Germany’s Central command for maritime emergencies shows the Panama-flagged bulk carrier Glory Amsterdam which ran aground off the shore of the German island of Langeoog on Sunday, Oct. 29, 2017. Germany was hit by a heavy storm on Sunday.

SNIPPET:

BERLIN, Oct 30 (Reuters) – Shallow waters off a North Sea island complicated efforts on Monday to dislodge a large freighter that ran aground as Germany began cleaning up after a storm that killed at least six people there and in Poland and Czech Republic.

Railway operator Deutsche Bahn continued to deal with “significant damage” from downed trees on some rail routes. Service will be limited in parts of northern Germany, DB said, after being suspended in large parts of the north and centre of the country on Sunday, stranding thousands of travellers.

The non-profit environmental group World Wildlife Fund said the oil on board continued to pose a significant risk to the Wadden Sea, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and renewed its call for a worldwide ban on heavy oil for use as ship fuel. 

The Wadden Sea is the largest unbroken system of intertidal sand and mud flats in the world. Including sand banks, salt marshes and dunes, it stretches from the Netherlands to neighbouring Germany and Denmark.

“Numerous wading birds, ducks and geese that are resting there at the moment would be endangered by the oil” if the ship broke up, Hans-Ulrich Rosenberg, a mud flat expert with WWE, said in a statement.
 
Elsewhere in Germany, Deutsche Bahn said rail traffic on a number of key routes – including the heavily travelled line from Hamburg to Berlin – would resume on Monday afternoon.

Thousands of travellers were stranded on Sunday, with some seeking shelter in special sleeping cars provided at stations. Trains that resumed service on Monday were crammed so full that some passengers had to disembark. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal; editing by Mark Heinrich)

Full article with link to more photos:

http://gcaptain.com/freighter-aground-deadly-storm/