Tanker Carrying Sulfuric Acid Capsizes in German Port

A German cargo ship with about 960 tons of sulfuric acid in its tanks sank in the north German port of Hamburg Tuesday after colliding with a container vessel. Fortunately, the chemical carrier's tanks appear to be mostly intact.

However, nine port employees and two police officers were hospitalized for breathing difficulties after inhaling gas from the ship's ventilation system.

The city's firefighting service said work was under way early on Tuesday to pump the corrosive chemicals out of the vessel's tanks, and also to refloat the tanker, which sank at dockside.

A representative from the firefighting service said he was "relatively certain" that no large volumes of sulfuric acid would escape into the water. About 5.9 tons of the vessel's load had escaped so far but water measurements so far showed there had been no major environmental damage.

He also said reports that the captain of the German-registered chemical carrier had been drunk on Tuesday evening were being investigated.

The vessel, the 200-ft "ENA 2," had been maneuvering into the Hamburg oil terminal when it collided with the container vessel. The tanker managed to dock but then sank at its moorings.

The vessel's owner, Norddeutsche Affinerie (NA), said the ENA-2 had a double hull, and its tanks were not ruptured in the collision.

Source: AFP