Carnival Triumph was held in port until 9pm last night because they do not want ships trying to navigate around the oil slick in the dark. This won't affect the itinerary.
For those who don't know - it takes 8 hours to traverse the channel from New Orleans to the Gulf Of Mexico, so this put the Triumph at the exit around sunrise.
We're booked on the 10/23 Triumph so I hope they don't have to cancel the cruises from New Orleans altogether. Its going to take a long time to get the spill under control. Hitting the gulf at sunrise actually makes the cruise more interesting, having done that once when the Fantasy got delayed in the river.
__________________
NEXT: CCL Elation 10-15-11
03-11 CCL Triumph
10-10 CCL Triumph
01-10 CCL Triumph
10-08 CCL Fantasy
03-08 CCL Fantasy
10-07 CCL Holiday
03-07 CCL Holiday
11-06 CCL Triumph
03-06 Caribbean Princess
01-04 CCL Victory
09-03 CCL Destiny
05-03 CCL Imagination
11-02 CCL Imagination
01-02 RCCL Rhapsody of Seas
02-01 RCCL Sovereign of Seas
02-00 RCCL Empress of Seas
01-99 RCCL Sovereign of Seas
01-98 RCCL Majesty of Seas
Where was our leader in chief the first week of the spill? And why didn't he and is upper staff get involved sooner? This thing is going to be a big mess.With all the technology we have I cannot believe we could not do something sooner. By the way what is the U.S. able to do that far off our coast? That is not in our territorial waters.
I cruised on the triumph the week of the spill, then spent 5 days sight seeing in new orleans. I watched on the t v how they were ready READY to burn the spill while it was still out to sea. all they were waiting for was the government approval...which never came. I guess the wet lands are worth giving up on according to the government.
we will all suffer from the lack of response.
and I fear that the Port of New Orleans may have to eventually be shut down.
Besides territorial waters you also have zones farther out where a nation still has the authority to control things - the largest zone being the "Exclusive Economic Zone" which extends 200 miles from shore. This is set by the international "Law Of The Sea" treaty of 1982. Thus the U.S. government has authority to issue drilling permits for wells far out into the Gulf Of Mexico.
Of all the people I've seen talking about the spill, I am most impressed with Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen. He understands the engineering challenges involved with working at 5000 feet below sea level. Rather than have the government step in and take over (they have zero experience in drilling oil wells), I'd much prefer to see expertise from other oil companies brought in to help BP. They may already be doing that.
Well, obviously I'm not a rocket scientist or oil well engineer. But, it is getting beyond ridiculous at this point in my opinion. Just drop a giant cement block on the dang thing!
Let me provide a couple of facts to ponder...at 5000 feet down the water pressure is around 2400 pounds per square inch. The temperature is around 33-36 degrees on average - no matter which sea bottom it is or how deep it is because of the thermal properties of water.
Can't they put some rebar in the giant cement block? There are single hull oil tankers made out of steel heading to the scrap yard. They could cut a whole in the bottom of one and sink it over it. All I know is it needs to get plugged or contained. We can put a man on the moon 40 years ago, but can't plug an oil leak?
I guess as someone that treasures our coastal wetlands it is a touchy subject for me.
Linear Mode
