Text 10. Ship split after new explosions

Make sure you understand the words below:

to trigger	to activate
to recycle	to reprocess, to reuse

20 July, 2007

A third round of explosives has split a beached container ship in two off the Devon coast.

Explosions were triggered soon after midday on MSC Napoli, which has been stranded off Branscombe since it was damaged in a storm in January.

The stern of the ship will stay on site and be cut up while the bow section has been towed away for recycling, possibly in mainland Europe.

Two previous explosions had been unsuccessful.

The operation was carried out by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) and the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

The MSC Napoli had been en route from Antwerp to South Africa when her 26 crew members abandoned ship and were flown to safety.

The ship was refloated last week but the results of a diving survey revealed the hull was severely damaged and it was beached again last week.

A large boom was in position to catch any oil which may leak from the vessel in her position about half a mile off Sidmouth on east Devon's coast.

After reading the texts and exchanging the information about the accident, describe the disaster according to the plan below using the facts from the four texts.

1. Deliberate grounding following structural failure.

2. Potential danger to environment.

3. Six months later: refloated for inspection.

4. Rebeached after a diving survey.

5. Attempts to break the ship in two.

 

Group work

Complete the spidergrams below and see how much vocabulary you can generate, with reference to the topic of sea pollution by oil.

Text 11. В Дании объявлена мазутная опасность

Give a free translation of the text below.

30 марта 2001 г.

Корабли береговой охраны и экологических служб Дании, Швеции и Германии пытаются собрать несколько нефтяных пятен, угрожающих датскому побережью. Нефть разлилась из-за столкновения танкера Baltic Carrier со стоявшим на якоре сухогрузом в порту Росток на севере Германии.

Работа специалистов затрудняется тяжелыми погодными условиями и тем обстоятельством, что разлившийся топливный мазут является тяжелым веществом, а потому находится несколько ниже поверхности моря. Экологи и пограничники установили специальные плавучие барьеры, предотвращающие дальнейшее расползание нефтяных пятен.

Из танкера вытекло без малого две из трех тысяч тонн мазута, бывшего на его борту. Причина столкновения пока не установлена, однако известно, что в результате в одном из танков образовалась 20-метровая пробоина. Правда, как заявили в четверг представители германских властей, сейчас течи уже нет. Оставшееся на судне топливо перекачано в неповрежденные отсеки. Сам танкер поставлен на якорь, и затопление ему не грозит.

На месте происшествия работают четыре датских судна, оборудованных специальными установками для сбора разлившейся нефти.

В 1985 году в этом районе было несколько серьезных инцидентов, связанных с разливом нефти. Тогда 300 тонн топлива выплеснулись на берег одного из островов.

Всего же по акватории Балтийского моря ежегодно проходит до
160 тысяч судов.

 

UNIT 2. Breaking the Rules

Text 1. The captain of a Russian trawler could face criminal charges

I. Read the text.

Make sure you understand the words below:

to flee (fled)	to run away
to chase	to follow
to hand back	to return
ongoing	continuing
dispute	argument
to state	to say

October 2005

Valery Yarantsev is being investigated on suspicion of illegal fishing and illegal detention, the local Russian prosecutor general's office said.

The trawler, the Elektron, was boarded by the inspectors near Svalbard [42] islands on suspicion of illegal fishing. But instead of heading to Norway as directed, it fled to Russian waters.

It was chased by Norwegian coastguards until it reached Russian territory.

The two inspectors had spent five days on board the trawler before they were handed back to the Norwegian authorities by a Russian rescue ship.

The prosecutor of the northern Murmansk region, where the Elektron returned to, confirmed a criminal case was being opened on the basis of information supplied by Norway.

"According to the Norwegians, a check revealed a number of serious violations ", a statement said.

The incident began on 15 October, when the Elektron was fishing in waters claimed by Norway.

The Norwegian authorities claim the Elektron was using illegal fishing equipment which violatedquota rules on fishing catches.

The trawler was ordered by the two inspectors to go towards the Norwegian port of Tromso, but unexpectedly changed its course towards Russia.

Although both sides wished to minimize the incident, it has started again an ongoing dispute between Russia and Norway over fishing rights in the Barents Sea.

The conflict appears to have been intensified by an incident with another Russian trawler, the Grigory Arlashkin, which was following the Elektron and trying to prevent Norwegian vessels from seizing it.

The Grigory Arlashkin 's captain stated that Norwegian Navy officers threw a net from a helicopter that entangled the Russian ship's propeller, rendering it immobile and forcing the ship to seek help from rescue vessels.

Norwegian military officials denied the allegation, saying that an illumination flare had been dropped over the trawler.

Norway claims sovereignty over the waters where the Elektron was arrested but Russia and other fishing nations disagree. They state Norway has no right to detain foreign vessels in that area even if they are breaking fishing regulations.

Vocabulary

criminal charge	обвинение в совершении преступления, уголовное обвинение
suspicion	подозрение
illegal	незаконный
detention	задержание, арест
prosecutor	прокурор
case	судебное дело
violation	нарушение
statement	заявление
to claim	заявлять о своих правах на что-л.
to violate	нарушать
quota	доля, квота
to entangle	запутывать
to render	приводить в какое-л. состояние
to seek	обращаться (за помощью)
to deny	отрицать; отвергать
allegation	голословное утверждение; заявление
sovereignty	независимость, суверенитет
to detain	задерживать, арестовывать

II. Vocabulary Practice

1. Fill in the table.

Verb	Noun
–	violation
to allege	–
–	seizure
to suspect	–
to detain	–
–	statement
to prosecute	–

2. Find an odd word.

a) arrest, detain, detect, seize;

b) face, emerge, encounter, meet;

c) charge, chase, follow, hunt, run after;

d) claim, demand, require, respond.

3. Match the words in column A with those in column B to form a phrase. Use them in the sentences of your own.

A	B
1. to violate	a) allegation
2. to seek	b) quota rules
3. to deny	c) help
4. to break	d) sovereignty
5. to detain	e) regulations
6. to claim	f) vessels

4. Find the words from the text which mean the following:

· forbidden by law;

· an action that breaks a law;

· an official limit on the amount of something;

· a lawyer who is trying to prove in a court of law that someone is guilty of a crime;

· complete freedom and power to manage.

Read and translate the sentences in which they are used.

III. Grammar Review

Rephrase the following sentences using the proper form of Passive Voice:

1. The captain … of illegal fishing. (suspect)

2. The two Norwegian inspectors … by the Russian captain for five days before they were able to return home. (detain)

3. A number of serious violations …. (reveal)

4. Sovereignty over waters near Svalbard … by Norway. (claim)

IV. Speech Practice

1. Explain the underlined parts in your own words.

1. The Norwegian authorities claim the Elektron was using illegal fishing equipment which violated quota rules on fishing catches.

2. Both sides wished to minimize the incident.

3. Norwegian Navy officers threw a net from a helicopter that entangledthe Russian ship's propeller, rendering it immobile.

2. Answer the questions to the text.

1. What charges does the Russian captain face?

2. What area is the subject of the dispute? Why?

3. Do you approve of the actions of the Russian captain?

4. What do you think the captain was to do having two fishery inspectors on board?

5. Were there any illegal actions on the part of the Norwegians?

6. What kind of argument is going on between Norway and some fishing countries?

3. Describe the incident using the conversational formulas below.

Demanding and Giving Explanations
· I don't really understand why …?	· To be honest…
· I can't make head or tail of…	· To tell the truth,…
	· As a matter of fact,…

 

Text 2. Charges read out against captain of Elektron

I. Read the text.

Make sure you understand the words below:

to detect	to spot, to discover
to set up	to establish
on the strength of	on the basis of
sign	indication
to present	to give
exposed	revealed

29 June, 2006

Prosecutors in Russia's Murmansk region read out the charges against Valery Yarantsev, captain of the Elektron on Wednesday. He is accused of violating international fishing rules and of illegally depriving foreign citizens of their freedom.

The trial is likely to be long. It will take the judge much time to examine and analyze all the 14 volumes of materials and hear out the witnesses for the prosecution and the defence. The case is tried behind closed doors.

On October 15, Norwegian coastguards detected the Elektron fishing off Spitsbergen. Inspectors found illegal fishing tackle on board and tried to convoy it to the port of Tromso.

Two Norwegian coastguard service officers came on board the Elektron, but its captain unexpectedly changed the course toward Murmansk.

Norwegian vessels failed to intercept the Elektron during a four-day chase across the stormy sea, and the trawler entered Russia's territorial waters on October 20.

The captain was hospitalized with a heart attack after the vessel arrived in the Russian port. A special commission was set up to investigate the incident, and on the first of November, Murmansk region prosecutors instituted criminal proceedings on the strength of the materials submitted by Norway.

Norway insisted that the Elektron had violated a number of rules; in particular [43], it failed to send a notification on the beginning of fishing, and used a net with the meshes smaller than the norm.

In addition, Norwegian inspectors found several stamps lacking the vessel's registration number, intendedfor marking fish boxes. In their opinion, these were signs of poaching.

Although the fish net was not found on board, the Norwegians presented the pictures of the fishing tackle made during the inspection.

The exposed violations qualify as offences both under Norwegian and Russian laws.

Vocabulary

to deprive (of)	лишать
trial	судебное разбирательство
witnessfor the prosecution	свидетель со стороны обвинения
defence	защита
to try	проводить расследование
tackle	снасти; оснастка, такелаж
to intercept	останавливать, задерживать
to institute	начинать
to submit	представлять на рассмотрение
mesh	ячея сети
stamp	штамп, печать; пломба или ярлык (на товаре)
intended	предназначенный
poaching	браконьерство
to qualify	зд. расцениваться
offence	преступление, правонарушение