Container ship sunk south of Cornwall - Storm "Kyrill" threatening Germany

[Celefin]

The Napoli is carrying about 75 containers,
but coastguards say they do not know what is in them.

The European Maritime and Safety Agency says the vessel
is listed as carrying "dangerous cargo".
It is trying to obtain the vessel's manifest to clarify. 

Coastguards said the weather on scene was south-westerly
severe Gale Force 9 (more than 50mph),
with 8m to 9m (26ft to 30ft) swells.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/6274625.stm
------

The German NewsMag 'Spiegel Online' reports that the crew has
been rescued in a joint
british-french operation. Storm Kyrill is now threatening
Germany and is expected
to arrive in full force this afternoon in the north and
tonight in
the south and east of the country.
The current wind-speeds would qualify Kyrill as a Class 2
Hurricane in the US.
Severe flooding on the northern coastline is expected along
with heavy rains
in central Germany. 

[joneschick]

1. Hurricane sweeps across Europe

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/01/18/germany.storm.reut/index.html

wow! I've got to call my sil

[Julius Civitatus]

6. Tropical-style hurricane in Germany? We are screwed

First time I hear about anything like this. Add to this the tornados in the UK and Spain, the balmy winter all over the northern hemisphere, and the lack of snow all over. What a weird weather pattern!

"We done broke the sky!"

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. Not 'tropical-style', but with winds that get into the hurricane range

For instance, the satellite photos for the UK (http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/satpics/latest_uk_ir.html - and click on, say, 0400 GMT, when the storm was crossing the UK) don't show a circular hurricane. Storms of this strength do happen in Europe - it's possible they might be more frequent now, but that would need detailed statistics to prove.

[AngryAmish]

2. Way to go, Bush!

[Show_Me _The_Truth]

3. What????

N/T

[Julius Civitatus]

7. WTF???

:wtf:

[donsu]

4. thanks for this info - Kyrill will cause more newly poor in it's wake

nt

[Solly Mack]

5. It's been incredibly windy...at one point 100 mph winds were expected

right now we are under an advisory alert until 10 PM tonight and it was at 2 AM...it's 6:30 PM here in southern Germany now.

Still windy, wet and cold.

[Karenina]

10. Yup, wet, windy and cold

This morning it was absolutely balmy. I didn't even zip my jacket. The winds picked up at 2pm, got loud around an hour ago but seem to be dying down now. The last one, a few years back, was much, much worse.

[Solly Mack]

11. Hey! I heard "hurricane" earlier today and I said "wtf?"

It was much windier earlier. Our car almost got hit by a flying lawn swing that came off it's foundation. The swing portion landed just a foot away from the car.

Way calmer now...

Do me a favor, please..

click on the links below and tell me what you think, pretty please.

[jollyreaper2112]

8. this ain't good

Calling in from South Florida here. We went through three of these bastards in 18 months, though they were only around Cat-1 in my area. The first hurricane in decades is always the worst because you have so many trees and structures that aren't ready for the wind loads. Subsequent storms aren't as bad because all that's going to fall has already fallen.

Given that continental Europe isn't prone to hurricanes and so hasn't included that sort of thing into the building codes, this could be pretty bad. Hopefully the hilly terrain can help blunt the wind effects. Florida is pancake flat so storms don't take much of a hit passing over us. Anyone got satellite imagery of this beastie?

[maddezmom]

12. Beached container ship sheds cargo and oil

LONDON (Reuters) - A crippled freight ship was shedding containers from above deck within sight of the southern English coast on Sunday after being deliberately run aground to stop it sinking.

The MSC Napoli, abandoned by its crew after being holed during storms last Thursday, was listing at 30 degrees and had already lost more than 200 of its 2,400 containers into the sea, a coastguard spokesman said.

He said about 200 tonnes of fuel oil were thought to have leaked from the ship, but that the risk of significant damage to the environment from the oil or the containers was small.

Some of the containers on board held potentially dangerous materials -- perfume, battery acid and car parts.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070121/wl_nm/britain_ship_dc

[T_i_B]

13. Oil to be moved from beached ship

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/6285699.stm

Coastguard officials hope to begin pumping 3,500 tonnes of oil from the stricken ship MSC Napoli to prevent more fuel leaking into the sea.
Some 200 tonnes of oil have already leaked from the cargo vessel, which is beached off the Devon coast.

Officials said the fuel on board - which is still in the tanks - was their main concern. The operation to remove the heavy fuel oil was expected to start at first light and could last up to a week.

Robin Middleton from the Department of Transport said two vessels were waiting to receive the oil. He said it was a difficult operation because of the angle of the ship and because the oil had to be heated before it could be removed.