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 Pollution scare as acid ship sinks in German port Tue Jun 29 2004 11:13:39 ET A German ship with carrying nearly 1000 tonnes of sulphuric acid has sunk in the German port of Hamburg, raising fears of a major environmental accident. The vessel, the ENA-2, went down on Monday evening after hitting a container vessel, firefighters said on Tuesday. Nine port employees and two police officers were taken to hospital with breathing difficulties after inhaling gas from the ship's ventilation system. The city's firefighting service said work was under way to pump the 960 tonnes of corrosive chemicals out of the vessel's tanks, but that all four of them were leaking slightly. The authorities said there was still a risk of a major leak during operations to re-float the 62-metre (200-foot) ship. A floating crane was being moved into position to begin the manoeuvre, but work could only begin if reservoirs containing the sulphuric acid had been completely emptied. "Re-floating will not begin until Wednesday. It is going to be a delicate operation," a firefighters spokesman said, adding that if the ship broke up conditions would be "perfect for an ecological catastrophe." Reports that the captain of the German-registered chemical carrier had been drunk during docking were being investigated. END |
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