The New Carissa was a freighter that ran aground on a beach near Coos
Bay, Oregon, United States, during a storm in February 1999 and
subsequently broke apart. An attempt to tow the bow section of the
ship out to sea failed when the tow line broke, and the bow was
grounded again. Eventually, the bow was successfully towed out to sea
and sunk. The stern section remains on the beach near Coos Bay. Fuel
on board the ship was burned off in situ, but a significant amount was
also spilled from the wreckage, causing ecological damage to the
coastline. The United States Coast Guard performed an investigation
and found that captain's error was the main cause of the wreck;
however, no criminal liability was established and the captain and
crew were not charged. There were significant legal and financial
consequences for the ship's owners and insurer. There are plans in
place to dismantle the stern section at its current site and remove it
from the beach.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Carissa
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1854:
Commodore Matthew Perry of the U.S. Navy signed the Treaty of
Kanagawa, forcing the opening of Japanese ports to American trade.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Calbraith_Perry)
1889:
The Eiffel Tower was inaugurated in Paris.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiffel_Tower)
1903:
New Zealand inventor Richard Pearse reportedly flew in one of the
first flying machines.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Pearse)
1917:
The Danish West Indies became the U.S. Virgin Islands after the United
States paid Denmark US$25 million for the Caribbean islands.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Virgin_Islands)
1930:
Hollywood movie studios instituted the Production Code to avoid
government censorship.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Production_Code)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
So blind is the curiosity by which mortals are possessed, that they
often conduct their minds along unexplored routes, having no reason to
hope for success, but merely being willing to risk the experiment of
finding whether the truth they seek lies there. ... I do not deny that
sometimes in these wanderings they are lucky enough to find something
true. But I do not allow that this argues greater industry on their
part, but only better luck. -- René Descartes
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Descartes)