Welcome to Gaia! ::


So, the oil tanker United Kalavryta just disppeared from radar 60 miles off the coast of Texas. How could something THIS big with THIS much money on it disappear like that?

I think it may be some sort of conspiracy considering the legal dispute it involves, but what do you all think?

Snuggly Buddy

29,150 Points
  • Conversationalist 100
  • Mark Twain 100
  • Conventioneer 300
pureshark1980
I think it may be some sort of conspiracy considering the legal dispute it involves, but what do you all think?


Apparently it didn't go anywhere at all, just turned off its signal for a bit - probably related to those legal disputes.
But thanks for the post. It's a rather interesting situation.

Tanker's signal resumes, indicates it's still nearby

HOUSTON — After more than two days of silence, an oil tanker at the center of a legal dispute over its cargo of oil from Kurdistan signaled Thursday that it still is anchored 60 miles off Galveston.

The maritime tracking system that picked up the signal hadn't detected the tanker United Kalavryta since Monday night when a court ruling made it likely the legal battle will continue.

Before Monday, the tanker had announced its position every several hours since arriving near the coast July 26. The silence led to speculation it had moved beyond the range of the tracking system. A Coast Guard spokesman said earlier in the week the tanker reportedly had left, but had no details.

Like airplanes, ships frequently communicate their positions via automatic tracking systems. These signals are picked up by nearby ships, receiving stations and satellites and are reported on a variety of software systems, many of them requiring paid subscriptions.

The free tracking site Vesselfinder.com had not picked up the United Kalavryta's signal since Monday night, but the website began reporting the tanker's position again early Thursday morning, showing the ship in the same position.

As of Thursday afternoon, two other free tools — MarineTraffic.com and an application called Boat Watch — had not updated the tanker's position in days.

Petty Officer Andy Kendrick said the Coast Guard isn't tracking the vessel, which the agency cleared July 27 to unload its cargo.

The United Kalavryta is too large for the Houston Ship Channel, so it is anchored in an area where such vessels transfer their cargo to smaller ones in a process called lightering. The Coast Guard requires ships to file notice before lightering occurs, but the United Kalavryta had filed no such notice as of Thursday afternoon, Kendrick said.

But uncertainty over the shipment's legal status probably will continue to dissuade U.S. companies from handling the cargo.

The tanker holds 1 million barrels of crude from Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdistan region.

The Iraqi government alleges the oil was smuggled out of the country through a pipeline that bypasses the state oil company, which claims the right to broker all deals for Iraqi crude. The Kurdistan Regional Government says it rightfully owns the oil.

Iraq sued to stop the cargo from being offloaded in the United States. At Baghdad's request, a U.S. magistrate in July ordered U.S. marshals to seize any offloaded cargo if lightering vessels bring it near shore.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Gray Miller sided with Kurdistan and tossed out the seizure order, but gave Iraq 10 days to file an amended complaint.

The Kurdistan Regional Government's minister of natural resources said in a statement that the judge's ruling should give confidence to potential buyers in the United States and elsewhere.

But the U.S. government, which backs a unified, central government in Iraq, discourages companies from buying crude from the Kurdistan Regional Government, warning such deals pose significant legal threats.

rhiannon.meyers@chron.com

Yuki_Windira's Husband

Invisible Hunter

13,800 Points
  • Perfect Attendance 400
  • Marathon 300
  • Forum Sophomore 300
... ... ... All this panicking over a lost signal and no one tried for a visual...?

Quick Reply

Submit
Manage Your Items
Other Stuff
Get GCash
Offers
Get Items
More Items
Where Everyone Hangs Out
Other Community Areas
Virtual Spaces
Fun Stuff
Gaia's Games
Mini-Games
Play with GCash
Play with Platinum