GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A “desperate search” is being carried out in the Irish sea, says the BBC, for five Russian crew members of a ship that ran into trouble off the coast of Wales in the Irish Sea Saturday. One man was rescued but is reported by Irish media to have died and two others were taken to safety after they were picked up by a British RAF helicopter whose co-pilot was Britain’s Prince William.
Five remain missing in the gale-force stormy sea after their ship, the “81-metre carrier MV Swanland, issued a Mayday at about 2am Greenwich mean time – which is 3am local time”, according to the Irish Times. “They reported the hull was cracking and the ship was taking in water about 30 miles north west of the Welsh Lleyn peninsula. It is believed the vessel may have sunk in 15 minutes in a heavy gale. The RNLI lifeboats reported no sign of the hull, with two liferafts and some floating debris on the sea surface.”
The ship was reportedly carrying limestone to the Isle of Wight.
The two who were saved were clinging to a life raft when they were spotted by the helicopter.
ICRC has started clearing unexploded munitions around Libyan cities; reports of children injured
Misrata, Libya evacuations led by the IOM: six shiploads have carried out civilians, but refugees are also fleeing overland, across the desert (©2011 IOM)
Update 14:55 Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A disturbing new picture is emerging of the desperate straits of those fleeing Libya overland to Chad, says the IOM (International Organization for Migration).
The Geneva-based organization in its latest media update, 6 May, on efforts to evacuate civilians from the strife-torn country, says that five people have died after arriving in Faya, in northern Chad and some 100 are hospitalized.
“The temperature here in the Sahara is above 50 degrees centigrade. Those who manage to arrive are extremely dehydrated and physically exhausted by such a demanding journey. They have just made a two week trip across the desert without food and water on an open and crammed vehicle in the full sun. There are no towns along the route to stop at and get supplies. There are no roads here, just desert sand,” says IOM’s chief of mission in Chad, Qasim Sufi.
The IOM reports that the journey “has been too much for some, with”more than 100 migrants including children . . . currently hospitalized in Faya with severe dehydration, respiratory, gastro-intestinal infections and injuries.”
The number of people fleeing overland, across the desert, appears to be rising dramatically, with 14 trucks, arriving in Faya this week and another 14 said to be en route. The IOM estimates, based in part on reports from those arriving, that “40,000 Chadians in the southern Libyan town of Gatroun, mostly women and children [are] reported to be in a desperate and pitiful condition. ‘People are telling us that these migrants have no food, water, shelter or sanitation. After many weeks like this, and in these temperatures, they cannot survive for much longer,” says Sufi. ‘We have to be able to access them to help them otherwise they could just die.’”
The IOM has to date taken more than 6,000 people from Faya to final destinations in Chad, but 3,700 await transport, in a transit camp designed for 900 people.
International Red Cross working closely with Libyan Red Crescent Society to find unexploded munitions
The ICRC in Geneva says it began 3 May to clear unexploded munitions in areas in Libya where the fighting has been heavy, notably around Ajdabiya, Misrata and Benghazi. Several children have reportedly been injured and the ICRC is working with the Libyan Red Crescent Society both to identify likely contaminated areas and to education the population to the danger.
International condemnation but Israel says, a bit late, it was ambushed
Update 15:40, video International condemnation has been swift, following an attack by Israeli commandoes on a convoy of six humanitarian aid boat taking supplies to Gaza, despite an Israeli sea blockade. Reports vary that anywhere from 10-19 activists were killed, with four Israeli soldiers injured.
In the wake of foreign outrage, Israel has scrambled to show what happened, saying the ship carried “peace activists” who had terrorist ties and that the attack took place after warnings were issued – and that the peace activists attacked its forces with weapons. So far, the Israeli version of events has done little to soften the criticism of other governments, although there is widespread recognition that Israel did not expect a confrontation, given its handling of previous, similar ships.
The attack has increased tensions with Turkey, whose flag the ships were carrying.
Links to other sites: Aljazeera, BBC, CBS, Jerusalem Post, Reuters
Video, Reuters
S Korea and US will have joint sea missions
Late Tuesday North Korea announced that it is severing all communication and relations with the South, and South Korea said that it is cutting trade and it will not allow ships from the North to pass through its waters.
South Korea and the US will carry out military exercises at sea together as part of their response to the South’s claims that North Korea torpedoed one of its submarines 26 March. Forty-six sailors died in the incident.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came out with a firm statement Monday backing South Korea and demanding that the North stop its “belligerant behaviour.” For the first time in several years the South Korean government intervened to support its currency, which fell sharply as fears grew over escalating tensions between the two Koreas.
Chinese ship Shen Neng 1 was lifted off the Great Barrier Reef Monday night 12 April as workers scrambled to refloat it ahead of expected storms, but the Australian government says the damage it caused during the week it was trapped is “extensive.” The ship was in a no-go zone, part of the Unesco World Heritage Site, and the company will face legal charges, Australia says. The ship was not merely stranded, but heavy seas during the week caused it to bump continually against the reef, grinding down the coral. The owner of the vessel, Shenzhen Energy Transport, apologized Friday for the accident, saying the ship had failed to follow its course as it returned from Gladstone, Australia, to China.
Links to other sites: BBC, Yahoo News
Rescuers are fighting unusually cold waters and rough seas in their search for 46 sailors who are missing after the South Korean patrol ship Cheonan sank Friday at 21:45. Military officials were quoted in Korean media as saying that an explosion of unknown origin made a hole in the bottom of the ship, which was carrying 104 persons, of whom 58 were rescued. The South Korean government has virtually ruled out foul play by North Korea.
A commercial ship carrying 83 passengers and crew, plus livestock, has sunk off the coast of Lebanon in stormy seas. Rescue operations have been hampered by bad weather and choppy water, but 34 survivors have been rescued, four people are known to be dead,and the search for others from the Panamanian-registered Dany F II continues. Authorites believe the ship was traveling from Uruguay to Syria. The animals are believed to have all died.
A week earlier, an Israeli ship in need of repair was rescued in waters off Lebanon when it sank.
Links to other sites: AP, Arutz Sheva, Israel
Somali pirates have released a Philippine tanker and its crew of 23 who have been held since November 2008, according to the Phillipines government, but the announcement made no reference to a ransom and it is unclear if one was paid. The ship was taken in the Gulf of Aden.
Richard Phillips, the captain of the hijacked Maersk Alabama ship who has been held hostage for several days, jumped to freedom and was picked up the US Navy, which shot and killed three of his four captors. The fourth pirate was negotiating at the time, and was taken captive. Phillips in safe and uninjured, the US Navy says. CNN
