Boat U.S. - January 2008 - (Page 11) Cruise Ship Holed by Submerged Pilings in ICW Enduring a mishap very familiar to scores of recreational boaters, a cruise ship struck an uncharted submerged object on an isolated stretch of the Intracoastal Waterway in November. The object gashed the hull of the vessel, leaving a 2-by-12inch opening, and the ship began taking on water. The captain of the 207-foot Spirit of Nantucket deliberately grounded the ship outside the channel to prevent sinking. None of the 66 passengers were injured. U.S. Coast Guard crews from stations Portsmouth and Port Elizabeth, VA, safely off-loaded the passengers without incident. The Spirit of Nantucket, operated by Cruise West, was on a week-long voyage from Alexandria, VA, to Charleston, SC, when it struck what turned out to be a bundle of pilings approximately eight feet below the surface. The channel is maintained at 12 feet MLW. The Army Corps of Engineers located the pilings and removed them the day after the vessel was refloated. Meanwhile, that stretch of the ICW near Pungo’s Ferry was closed to commercial traffic, and open only to recreational vessels with less than a six-foot draft. Uncharted submerged objects in 3 U.S. Coast Guard crews from stations Portsmouth and Port Elizabeth, VA, safely off-load 66 passengers from the cruise ship Spirit of Nantucket, which was holed by a bundle of pilings while cruising the ICW. channels pose a threat to commercial ship traffic and recreational boaters alike. This is the second high-profile case of a commercial vessel being damaged by objects lost overboard in a busy shipping channel. In November of 2004, the oil tanker Athos I was sliced open by a 15-foot-long curved pipe in the Delaware River, causing 265,000 gallons of heavy crude to spill into the river. Two other uncharted objects including an 18,000-pound ship’s anchor were subsequently discovered by side-scan sonar equipped survey vessels in the path of the Athos I, as logged by the ship’s chartplotter. If such objects were reported when lost overboard, NOAA National Response Team survey boats could be deployed to locate them and determine if they posed a threat to boat traffic and, if necessary, update charts. NOAA has requested additional funding to add to its existing fleet of six of these trailerable, fast-response boats. Photo courtesy USCG io n Ro se t ta He was a hardworking farm boy. She was an Italian supermodel. He knew he would have just one chance to impress her. ® Rosetta Stone. The fastest and easiest way to learn . Introducing Rosetta Stone® Version 3! The world’s leading language-learning software just got better. NE oW St ne ® Ve rs NEW Proprietary speech recognition technology gets you speaking from the start. NEW speech analysis tools perfect your pronunciation. NEW Contextual Formation™ feature uses real-world simulations to give you the benefits you need to succeed. NEW Adaptive Recall™ Language feature tracks progress to reinforce your strengths and revisit needs. NEW Milestone feature lets you try out your new language knowledge in real-life simulations. IMPROVED Intuitive, sequential learning makes every lesson count and build progressively. Version 3 now available in 10 languages, 20 other languages available for Version 2. ™ The fastest way to learn a language. Guaranteed. Act now to receive a 10% discount. May 31, 2008. Offer expires Level 1 Level 1&2 $209 NOW $188.10 $339 NOW $305.10 Best Value! Level 1,2 & 3 $499 NOW $449.10 Personal Edition. Solutions for organizations also available. ©2007 Rosetta Stone Ltd. All rights reserved. (888) 232-9271 Use promotional code obs018 when ordering RosettaStone.com/obs018 BoatU.S. Magazine January 2008 11 http://RosettaStone.com/obs018 http://RosettaStone.com/obs018
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