Group Work

Two texts below are about the same accident but comprise different information. Each student has to read one text. Exchange the information. Work in pairs.

Text 11(a). Raising the Tricolor

The giant vessel capsized on December 14, after being hit from behind by another boat that was trying to overtake it.

Two days after the initial accident a freighter ploughed into the wreck, and two weeks on from that (after several marker buoys and a radio beacon had been positioned to warn shipping) a tanker carrying flammable paraffin managed to wedge itself on top. To make matters worse, a salvage tug boat knocked out safety valves on the Tricolor in bad weather in January, producing an oil slick 4 km long.

The wreck is effectively blocking the main route that ships from Belgium take into the Channel – which has the busiest shipping lanes in the world.

The wreck is some 200 m long and 30 m wide and is considered too badly damaged to refloat. And it's heavy. Car carriers are not the very largest boats afloat but they have little internal structure to stop water pouring in. Add the cargo of cars – some 2,862 luxury BMWs, Volvos and Saabs sit rusting away inside – and the weight of the beached Tricolor rises to an estimated 20,000 tonnes.

Vocabulary

to plough	врезаться (во что-л.) с силой
to wedge	втискиваться
safety valve	предохранительный клапан
to rust away	ржаветь

Text 11 (b). The wreck lay on its side in the English Channel until August 2003

The wreck lay on its side in the English Channel until August 2003, when the operation to cut it up was finally put into action – the method was to cut the whole ship into pieces as if it were a huge cake. To achieve this, two large platforms were placed either side of the wreck and a chain placed beneath the wreck. This chain was then used as a saw, which cut the Tricolor up into manageable chunks that could then be lifted away by means of a heavy lift crane. A similar method was used to remove the nose of the sunken Russian submarine Kursk before it was raised in October 2001. In that case, technical mishaps, including a broken saw cable, hampered the project.

The team removed most of the oil from the Tricolor's tanks, though some could still escape. A specially equipped boat was standing by to deal with any spill.

The Tricolor has been removed from the seabed. Her propeller is placed in front of the Smit office in Rotterdam-Waalhaven.

Vocabulary

saw	пила
manageable	зд. удобный (для работы)
chunk	глыба, огромный кусок

After reading the texts and exchanging the information about the causes of the accident, do your best to describe the disaster using the facts from the three texts. Unit 2. Maib Accident Reports

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) examines and investigates all types of marine accidents to or on board UK ships worldwide, and other ships in UK territorial waters. The objective of MAIB accident investigations is to determine the circumstances and causes of the accident with a view¹ to preserve life and avoid accidents in the future. They analyse the relevant issues and make recommendations aimed at preventing similar accidents in the future. The lessons learnt can be found in a variety of MAIB publications: Safety Bulletins, Safety Digests, Safety Studies and others.

The Safety Digest draws the attention of the marine community to some of the lessons arising from investigations into recent accidents and incidents. The purpose of the Safety Digest is to prevent similar accidents happening again.