environmental disaster News

UN Says Operation to Siphon Oil out of Rusting Tanker Moored off Yemen Begins to ‘Avoid Catastrophe’

CAIRO (AP) — An international team began siphoning oil out of a decrepit oil tanker off the coast of Yemen on Tuesday, the United Nations chief said, a crucial step in a complex salvage operation aiming to prevent a potential …

UN Says Insurance Coverage Secured to Salvage Rusting Oil Tanker off Yemen

CAIRO (AP) — The United Nations has secured insurance coverage to start a ship- to-ship transfer of 1.1 million barrels of crude from a rusting tanker moored off the coast of war-torn Yemen – oil that could cause a major …

Miner BHP Potentially Faces $44B Bill in Brazil Dam Case

LONDON –– Mining group BHP Group is potentially facing a 36 billion pound ($44 billion) lawsuit in London over Brazil’s worst environmental disaster after the number of claimants more than tripled to 700,000, their lawyers said on Wednesday. BHP was …

UN Says $144M Needed to Avert Yemen Tanker Disaster

CAIRO (AP) — The United Nations was seeking $144 million on Wednesday needed to fund the salvage operation of a decaying tanker full of oil moored off the coast of Yemen, a ship whose demise could cause an environmental disaster. …

California Spill Not the Environmental Disaster First Feared

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — After a crude oil sheen was detected on the waters off the Southern California coast, environmentalists feared the worst: A massive spill that would wreck the ecosystem. A week later, the region and its signature …

Turtle Carcasses Wash Ashore in Sri Lanka After Ship Fire

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Nearly a hundred carcasses of turtles with throat and shell damage, as well as a dozen dead dolphins and a blue whale, have washed ashore in Sri Lanka since a container ship burned and sank, …

UN Office Says Sri Lanka Ship Fire Causes Significant Damage

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — The U.N. representative in Sri Lanka said the sinking of a container ship that caught fire while transporting chemicals off the capital Colombo has caused “a significant damage to the planet” by releasing hazardous substances …

Fire-Ravaged Ship Sinks, Prompting Sri Lankan Pollution Fear

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — A container ship carrying chemicals sank off Sri Lanka’s capital on Thursday nearly a month after catching fire, raising concerns about a possible environmental disaster. The ship’s operator said the wreck of the Singapore-flagged X-Press …

Rough Seas Hamper Sri Lankan Divers Examining Sinking Ship

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Rough seas and poor underwater visibility are hampering navy divers who are trying to detect any fuel leakage from a fire-ravaged container ship carrying chemicals that is slowly sinking off Sri Lanka’s capital, officials said …

Data Recovered as Ship With Chemicals Sinking Off Sri Lanka

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Experts recovered the data recorder of a fire-ravaged ship carrying chemicals that is slowly sinking off Sri Lanka’s capital, as salvage crews stood by to head off a possible environmental disaster, officials said Sunday. The …