Category Archives: Water transport

Iran fury as Royal Marines seize tanker suspected of carrying oil to Syria

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Iran summons UK ambassador over incident off Gibraltar as tensions escalate over nuclear deal

Royal Marines have helped seize an Iranian supertanker suspected of carrying oil to Syria off the coast of Gibraltar, escalating tensions between the UK and Tehran as the agreement aimed at halting Iran’s nuclear programme unravels.

A detachment of nearly 30 British troops working with the Gibraltarian police intercepted the vessel, believed to be carrying 2m barrels of oil, in a dramatic manoeuvre Spain said had been conducted at the request of the US.

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Submersible on which 14 sailors died is state secret, says Kremlin

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Russia refuses to release details about vessel or its mission ‘to protect national security’

The Kremlin has said it will not reveal the vessel type or mission of the 14 sailors who died onboard a top-secret submersible on Monday because the information is a closely guarded state secret.

The remarks came as information has trickled out about the vessel, reported to be an advanced “spy submersible”, and its highly decorated crew, which served in a secretive unit under Russia’s main directorate of deep-sea research and represented some of the navy’s best and brightest.

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A city built on water: the hidden rivers under Tokyo’s concrete and neon

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More than 100 rivers and canals flow beneath Tokyo, but from the ground it’s hard to notice them. Why has the city turned its back on water?

Of the near-endless flow of people over the busy Shibuya scramble crossing every day, few realise that beneath their feet is something else flowing, unseen and unnoticed: the crossing of two ancient rivers, the Uda and the Onden.

Beneath all the concrete and neon, Tokyo is a city built on water. It is the reason the Japanese capital’s 37 million citizens are here at all. From fishing village to seat of political power, canny water management was a key driver of the city’s extraordinary growth.

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Twenty-one people still missing after boat capsized in Budapest

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Captain of larger vessel that collided with tourist boat is detained after sinking in which seven have been confirmed dead

The captain of a vessel that collided with a tourist boat on which seven people died has been arrested by police as the search continued for 21 people still unaccounted for after the disaster on the Danube in Budapest.

The 64-year-old captain of the larger ship, the 135-metre four-storey Viking Sigyn, is suspected of endangering water transport leading to a deadly mass accident. In line with Hungarian laws, the suspect, a resident of Odessa, was identified only as Yuriy C.

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Seven dead after river boat capsizes in Budapest

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Sightseeing boat was by the Hungarian parliament building when it collided with another vessel

Seven South Koreans have died after a sightseeing boat sank in the Danube, close to the Hungarian parliament building in central Budapest, Hungarian and South Korean officials have said.

Thirty-three South Koreans were onboard the boat when it collided with another vessel, South Korea’s foreign ministry said. The 26-metre tourist boat was also carrying two Hungarian crew members.

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Russia launches new nuclear-powered icebreaker in bid to open up Arctic

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Russia is overhauling ports as it readies for more traffic via Northern Sea Route due to warmer climate cycles

Russia launched a nuclear-powered icebreaker on Saturday, part of an ambitious programme to renew and expand its fleet of the vessels in order to improve its ability to tap the Arctic’s commercial potential.

The ship, dubbed the Ural and which was floated out from a dockyard in St Petersburg, is one of a trio that when completed will be the largest and most powerful icebreakers in the world.

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