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Skell · Jun 7, 2007, 06:42 PM

'Panic stations': ship aground - National - smh.com.au

This is where I am from in Australia. The weather here today is freakish. This 225m ship has run aground on one of beautiful beaches. It lost its morning a few KM's offshore and came hurtling towards the beach.

Follow the link to view more of the photos. If you have seen how big these ships are you would be in awe at what is happening.

They are trying the rescue the crew now but it is too windy to steady the choppers. So our brave surf life savers are heading out on jet skis and trying board the ship and get people to jump overboard.

Hope you find these images as interesting as I do! It could also be a major environmental disaster. Hope not!

RubyPitbull · Jun 8, 2007, 11:51 AM

Hello Skell my love. Still waiting for that sponsorship from you. ;)

Those pictures are amazing! Very scary stuff. I have seen ships like that. Overwhelmingly huge and scary as heck. I hope for everyone's sake there isn't any disaster involved here and they will be able to get the ships mooring back in place and tow it out and away from land.

Lowtax4eva · Jun 8, 2007, 12:04 PM

It's carrying coal? Weird that in this day and age there is still that much demand for coal. If guess it's not as bad if it sinks compared to an oil tanker.

Skell · Jun 11, 2007, 04:32 PM

Originally Posted by RubyPitbull

Hello Skell my love. Still waiting for that sponsorship from you. ;)

Those pictures are amazing! Very scary stuff. I have seen ships like that. Overwhelmingly huge and scary as heck. I hope for everyone's sake there isn't any disaster involved here and they will be able to get the ships mooring back in place and tow it out and away from land.

Yes it has been quite and amazing weekend Ruby. It has been the worst natural disaster in the states history. Of course not on the same scale as Katrina but quite unbelievable weather. The worst storm to hit our region on record. Some nasty flooding and some very saddening deaths.

A whole family, three children and their parents were washed away when flash flooding collapsed a part of the road they were driving on. Very horrible.

I have never seen weather like it. It was impossible to describe. The mess is simply astounding. I'm lucky that the water was only a foot deep in my house. I lost all my furniture and electrical etc but I'm one of the lucky ones. Anyway, there is always light on the end of the tunnel. I'm in construction so there is going to be busy couple of years a head of me with the widespread damage.

The sponsorship may have to be put on hold until I get my bed and power back on Ruby! ;)

Skell · Jun 11, 2007, 04:36 PM

Originally Posted by Lowtax4eva

It's carrying coal? Weird that in this day and age there is still that much demand for coal. If guess it's not as bad if it sinks compared to an oil tanker.

At the time it was empty. Hence it was sitting very high in the water and its propeller coudlnt take hold against the huge waves. The Captain ignored a warning to go out to sea.

Newcastle, where I am from is one of the biggest coal export ports in the world I think. It is a huge industry. Coal is still from what I gather is still in very high demand.

The ship is carrying a lot of fuel. Tens of thousand of tonnes. So it may still cause a huge problem. Have to wait and see what the salvage crews have to say!

RubyPitbull · Jun 11, 2007, 04:39 PM

OMG Skell! This is unbelievable! I had no idea that you were hit that hard! I am so very sorry this has happened to you honey. No one deserves that. We have had some situations like that where I live but I was lucky enough to be out of the path of destruction. Other people have had the rivers take their houses away completely!

Does your insurance cover it or is there a disaster relief program that will help you rebuild?

Skell · Jun 11, 2007, 05:23 PM

Im sure my insurance will cover it Ruby. As I said I'm fairly lucky. I only lost furniture and the carpet etc. I will be fine. Others though are so much worse off.

It made quite a mess. Im sure there has been relief programs etc set up for those in need. It was quite scary. Very very scary.

I went to school with the daughter of a man who was washed away and killed not far from my home.

Now I know why we build buildings to withstand one in 100 year storms. We just had one.

Thanks for the concern Ruby! Much appreciated.

The Sydney Morning Herald National: Australian news, politics and current affairs.

Skell · Jun 11, 2007, 05:24 PM

And you know what pissed me right off. Once our news broadcasters were finished with reporting what had happened they couldn't wait to tell us all about poor Paris. I felt like jumping through the TV screen and ripping the journalists throats out so I didn't have to listen to them tell me about her anymore. It isn't her fault but that story is so tiresome.

RubyPitbull · Jun 11, 2007, 05:33 PM

I know what you mean. The media seems to think that we are more interested in the story of celebrities than what is going on throughout the world. I guess it has more to do with what shows have the highest ratings. I am thankful I get the BBC and other news channels so I can find out what is really happening around the world. I have to tell you that there was very little to no coverage here on what happened in Aussie. We have people trying so desperately to rebuild here locally, the local channels are using those stories as fillers or they waltz them out when we have another huge storm. Other than that, they are all but forgotten. Katrina is just a memory for those of us that don't live in that part of the country. And, of course, in my area, no one in any of the major cities even know what happened here. We have had a declared State of Emergency a few times in less than two years and no one outside of the State hears about it. I have family in New York and they don't have a clue until I speak with them.

I am sorry about your friend's father.