Oil spill on beach after two cargo ships collide off the Kamarajar Port in Ennore

The oil spill due to the collision of two cargo ships off the Kamarajar Port in Ennore has resutedin pollution of the Chennai’s beaches also. Morning beach walkers found oil on the sands on the Marina beach, near INS Adyar, at Nochikuppam and at Pattinapakkam.
Residents were shocked to see the black oil deposit on the sands of the Marina. Fishermen from Nochikuppam, who brought in their catches after fishing trips, mentioned about a strong smell of oil in the sea. Fishermen organizations have demanded for immediate action to remove the oil spills since it is affecting the livelihood of the fishermen. THey have not been able to venture into the sea for the past two days.
This has been reported in thehindu.com dated 31 January 2017.

An expert on oil spills has warned people not to go to the beaches that had been polluted because it was very harmful to the skin. Inhaling benzene found in such fuels is also bad. The oil is very heavy oil and difficult to clean. the Coast Guard had issued notice to the owner and master of the ship, MV Dawn Kanchipuram, over the incident.
The volume of the oil that has been spilled is large. Oil spills move due to wave action and also through ocean currents and the waves break up the oil plumes into smaller portions.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

Mars mission very much on the cards - six scientists are getting ready in Hawaii

Remembering Princess Diana on her 20th death anniversary

Restaurant offering only organic food opens in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad


Didi to UP on a selling mission (satire)

Ronald Grump invites Moody to Las Vegas (satire)

In the wonderland of deo sprays, fairness creams, and condoms


Sets of the film Padmavati in Jaipur vandalised, Bhansali cancels shooting

Indian born actress Priyanka Bose talks about the movie 'Lion'

Pakistan government lifts the ban on Indian films with 'Raees' and 'Kaabil'


Fire in a mosque in Texas - the Islamic Center of Victoria badly damaged

ISIS had plans to launch chemical warfare - evidence unearthed in Mosul

26-year-old man mows down four people and injures another 25 in Melbourne CBD

Russian cargo ship bound for the ISS explodes after launch from Kazakhstan

A Russian cargo ship headed for the International Space Station has exploded shortly after launch from Kazakhstan. The unmanned supply ship was carrying rocket fuel, food, water and a new spacesuit and contact was lost six minutes after take-off and two minutes before it was due to arrive in orbit.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 2 December 2016.

Russia's Roscosmos space agency has revealed that the incident occurred "about 190km (118 miles) above the rugged, uninhabited, mountainous territory of the Republic of Tyva and most of the fragments were burned in the dense layers of the atmosphere".
The cargo ship had been scheduled to arrive at the ISS on Saturday but, its non arrival "not affect the normal operations of the ISS systems and the subsistence of the station's crew".
Incidentally, this incident is the second failed launch of a Progress cargo ship within two years. In April 2015 a Progress ship disintegrated as it fell to Earth - this failure was blamed on a problem with a Soyuz rocket. As a result of that Russia suspended all space travel for nearly three months and the astronauts in ISS were forced to remain there for an extra month.
Russia sends at least three such supply ships every year to ISS and they plummet back to Earth after delivering the stores and burn up in the atmosphere above the Pacific Ocean.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


Some more interesting links -

President Pranab Mukherjee to be present for Vikramshila Mahotsav

Baliyatra fair on the banks of the Mahanadi sees over one lakh visitors on opening day

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin to bury the hatchet and work together to fight terrorism


Lord Shiva and long ATM queues - bullock carts and ATM don't gel (satire)

Moody fires cannons to eliminate mosquitoes (satire)

Fuchka Festival in Kolkata and selfies (satire)


Spanish police arrest two suspected ISIS terrorists in Barcelona and Madrid

At least 52 killed and more than 100 injured in a bomb blast at a remote Sufi shrine in Pakistan

Joint action by RFA, Royal Navy and US Coast Guard nets huge haul of cocaine from the sea


La La Land to have its Indian premiere at the Jio MAMI Film Club

Jackie Chan gets an Oscar after a 56-year career

Spider-Man: Homecoming will see Michael Keaton as Spider-Man's main adversary Vulture

ESA cargo ship Georges Lemaitre take leave from the ISS to splash down on Sunday

#atv5 #ISS #NASA #georgeslemaitre #ESA #cargoship Georges Lemaitre, the cargo ship of the European Space Agency (ESA) is its fifth and final Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV-5) and it has left the International Space Station before its final splashdown on Sunday as revealed in space.com dated 14 February 2015.
The unmanned ATV-5, is named after the 20th-century Belgian priest and astronomer and with its departure from the ISS an era ends – it had been at the orbiting lab ISS for six months.
The reentry of ATV-5 into the atmosphere over the South Pacific Ocean will be documented by the Expedition 42 crew on board the ISS as well as NASA, ESA and other agencies around the world. The aim of the agencies is "to gather detailed information on the mechanics of the breakup of a spacecraft re-entering the Earth's atmosphere."
Of course, onboard sensors in the ATV-5 would also collect information via its temperature-measuring Break-Up Camera. Incidentally, ATVs have been supplying ISS regularly ever since 2008 - the ATV-1 ("Jules Verne") was launched in March of that year. Next came ATV-2 ("Johannes Kepler") which blasted off in February 2011 followed by ATV-3 ("Edoardo Amaldi") in March 2012, and ATV-4 ("Albert Einstein") in June 2013.
The ATVs have brought in a total of about 34 tons of cargo to ISS, the orbiting lab, NASA and, as informed by NASA officials, the ATV-5, which is as big as a double-decker bus, had delivered more than 7 tons of food, scientific experiments, spare parts and other gear when it docked with the station on Aug. 12, 2014.