Concordia fuel removal delayed

 

Rough seas off Italy s Tuscan coast forced a delay in the planned Saturday start of the operation to remove a half-million gallons of fuel from the grounded Costa Concordia, and officials said pumping may now not begin until midweek.

 

Recovery operations continued, however, and on Saturday yielded a 17th body: The woman who wasn t wearing a life jacket was found by divers on the submerged sixth floor deck, civil protection officials said.

 

The Concordia ran aground on Jan. 13 off the port of the island of Giglio port after the captain deviated from his planned route and gashed the hull of the ship on a reef. Some 4,200 passengers and crew endured a panicked evacuation after the abandon ship alarm didn t sound until the ship had capsized so much that some life boats couldn t be lowered.
Some 16 people remain unaccounted for and are presumed dead.

 

On Saturday, the body found on the ship s deck on Jan. 28 was identified as Erika Soria Molina, 25, of Peru by Doris Sotomayor, Peru s consul general in Florence.

 

Sotomayor told The Associated Press that the body was found in a submerged part of the deck. Soria, who was wearing a service uniform, studied tourism in Peru and was born in the Andean city of Cuzco, southeast of Lima.

 

The removal of the fuel aboard the Concordia is a key concern since the seas around Giglio form part of a protected marine sanctuary and are a favorite destination for scuba divers. So far, no leakage has been detected.

 

Dutch shipwreck salvage firm Smit has been contracted by the Concordia s owner Costa Crociere SpA, a unit of Miami-based Carnival Corp., to remove the fuel. Smit s divers have made the necessary preparations to begin pumping out fuel from six outer tanks that hold more than half of the 500,000 gallons (1.9 million liters) of heavy fuel oil that are aboard the ship.

 

The rest of the fuel is contained in inner tanks that are harder to access.

 

So far, divers have drilled into four of the six outer tanks and fixed valves on them: one on top, one on bottom. Hoses will then be attached to the valves and as the oil which must be warmed to make it less gooey is sucked out of the upper hose, sea water is pumped in to fill the vacuum via the lower hose.

 

Smit spokesman Martijn Schuttevaer told reporters Saturday that the pumping operation may not begin now until midweek since the poor weather is forecast at least through Tuesday. Officials don t want to risk the possibility that a battering of the hoses caused by rough seas might lead to leakage.

 

On Saturday, the choppy waters partially dislodged Smit s barge that was hitched to the Concordia s hull and had served as a staging platform for the fuel removal operation. Smit brought it back into port, where it will stay until the weather improves, Schuttevaer said.

 

The Concordia s captain, Francesco Schettino, remains under house arrest, accused of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning a ship before its passengers had evacuated. He has admitted he took the ship on “tourist navigation” to bring it close to Giglio but said the reef he hit wasn t marked on his nautical charts.

 

Hydrogen fueling station opens in California

 Residents of California can take a trip to Orange County and find the world’s first sewage-powered refueling station. Located just off the 405 freeway, the station is located next to the Orange County waste-water treatment plant in Fountain Valley.

The hydrogen fuel offers about 70 miles per gallon and the station can fuel up to 50 automobiles per day with the daily 120 kilograms of hydrogen gas produced at the plant. In order to produce the hydrogen gas, sewage is processed to collect methane. This methane is converted into hydrogen and sent into a fuel cell to power the entire plant with 250 kilowatts of electricity.

The remaining hydrogen is converted into fuel grade hydrogen and sent to the fueling station for consumer use.

Apple working on a TV set for 2012

The latest iteration of the longstanding rumor is that Apple will get in to the business of selling TVs by building a digital TV based on iOS. That s according to multiple Silicon Valley sources cited by Venture Beat. Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster told Venture Beat that he predicted Apple would produce a TV set by the end of 2012 or early 2013. 

Munster, who has long been trumpeting the possibility of an Apple-made TV set, first floated the notion in 2009 that Apple would take a bite out of the TV market in 2011 by introducing its first television. Munster wrote in June that Apple s recently announced iCloud infrastructure makes it all the more plausible.

The rumor mill gathered steam again earlier this week when the concept garnered a brief note in a Wall Street Journal report on the challenges faced by Tim Cook, the man named to replace Steve Jobs as Apple s CEO: An immediate challenge for Mr. Cook will be to advance Apple s plans in what is expected to be a key market for growth: digital video. Apple is working on new technology to deliver video to televisions, and has been discussing whether to try to launch a subscription TV service, according to people familiar with the matter.

An Apple job listing in February added fuel to the fire by advertising for someone to work on “new power management designs and technologies” for use on various Apple products, including a “TV.” One of the critical aspects is the idea of Apple offering a subscription service for content. The device would presumably replace and offer more content that the $99 Apple TV set-top box, which already offers access to several third-party apps, such as NBA, MLB, and Netflix.

Recent reports have also claimed that Apple was on the verge of unveiling such a subscription service for video content. However, competitors like Amazon have already beaten Apple to the punch with their own streaming services, though they offer a smaller catalog of content than what Apple could potentially provide.

Apple rival Google entered the TV space late last year with combination of set-top boxes and TV sets that include its Google TV software. Google s strategy has been to blend in with TV content provided through a cable operator and let users execute Web searches while watching programming.

Mirzas statement to trigger violence in Sindh, says MQM

 The Coordination Committee meetings of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) were held in Karachi and London to discuss the situation arising after the press conference of former provincial senior minister, Dr Zulfiqar Mirza.

In the joint statement after the meetings Coordination Committee sources said that Zulfiqar Mirza was himself involved in target killings in Karachi.

The Coordination Committee has also asked Pakistan People’s Party to clears its position in this regard.

The MQM condemned Zulfiqar Mirza’s allegations and said why kidnapping for ransom and ‘Bhatta Mafia’ activities started soon after his appointment as Sindh Interior Minister.

The MQM also alleged that Mirza’s allegations would add fuel to the fire and trigger violence in Karachi. The Coordination Committee said that Mirza was directly involved in target killing in Karachi.

Discovery shuttle poised for historic final launch

CAPE CANAVERAL: Discovery, NASA’s oldest and most journeyed space shuttle, is poised to launch Thursday on its final mission, wrapping up a near three-decade legacy of orbital travel.

When the storied spacecraft lifts off at 2150 GMT, it will mark the beginning of the end of the US space shuttle program, with Discovery the first of the remaining three shuttles headed for retirement this year.

The closure of the US shuttle program will leave a gaping hole in the American space mission, and leaves astronauts to rely on the Russian Soyuz space capsule for transport to the orbiting International Space Station.

But concerns for the future were brushed aside as excitement mounted at Kennedy Space Center for Discovery”s mission, with technical checks moving along smoothly and no hint of the fuel tank woes that delayed the launch in November.

“Everything is on track and going beautifully with the countdown,” said mission management team director Mike Moses. “We’re really looking forward to a very action-packed, successful mission.”

Cracks on Discovery”s external fuel tank emerged just before launch more than three months ago, causing engineers to puzzle for many weeks over the cause and how to fix it.

In January, engineers agreed that installing small metal strips, called radius blocks, on the 6.7 meter- (22-foot-) long U-shaped aluminum brackets, called stringers, would reinforce their strength.

Shuttle launch director Mike Leinbach said the teams preparing Discovery this time had found “no problems at all” as they count down toward lift-off.

“We’re not tracking any issues and it looks like Discovery will fly this time,” said Leinbach.

The rotating service structure around Discovery was rolled away on Wednesday evening, revealing the shuttle on the launch-pad for the first time.

The six-member crew of astronauts headed to bed at 0400 GMT and were to awaken at 1200 GMT for the launch Thursday, NASA said.

The loading of the external fuel tank was to begin at 1225 GMT. The astronauts were expected to board the shuttle at around 1835 GMT.

The mission will be led by commander Steven Lindsey, pilot Eric Boe and astronauts Alvin Drew, Michael Barratt, Steve Bowen and Nicole Stott.

Astronaut Tim Kopra was scratched from the crew list after a bicycle accident in January. He was replaced by Bowen.

The crew plans to deliver the Permanent Multipurpose Module, with extra storage space and an area for experiments, as well as some spare parts and the Express Logistic Carrier, an external platform for large equipment.

The shuttle is also to bring the first humanoid robot to the ISS. The Robonaut 2, or R2, is a joint project of General Motors and NASA and will stay behind when Discovery leaves as a permanent resident of the ISS.

The weather forecast – clear skies, sunshine and a mild breeze – was considered exceptionally good with only a 20-percent chance of conditions that could delay the launch, NASA weather officer Kathy Winters said.

Discovery first flew in 1984. Final flights for the other two remaining in the fleet, Atlantis and Endeavour, are scheduled for later this year.

Endeavour is set for its final takeoff on April 19 and a last mission for Atlantis is scheduled for June 28, though funding for Atlantis remains in question.

There were initially five space shuttles in the fleet — Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff in 1986 and Columbia disintegrated on its way back to Earth in 2003.

The sixth shuttle, Enterprise, did test flights in the atmosphere but was never flown into space. It is already on display at a museum outside Washington.

Saudi Leadership Urged US to Attack Irans Nuclear Facility

Wiki leaks has released 0.25 million confidential documents unveiling that Saudi Leadership urged US to attack Irans nuclear facility.

A dangerous standoff with Pakistan over nuclear fuel: Since 2007, the United States has mounted a highly secret effort, so far unsuccessful, to remove from a Pakistani research reactor highly enriched uranium that American officials fear could be diverted for use in an illicit nuclear device. In May 2009, Ambassador Anne W. Patterson reported that Pakistan was refusing to schedule a visit by American technical experts because, as a Pakistani official said that if the local media got word of the fuel removal, they certainly would portray it as the United States taking Pakistans nuclear weapons.

NEPRA approves Rs. 0.70 per unit reduction in KESC’s power tariff

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has approved Rs. 0.70 per unit reduction for Karachi Electric Supply Corporation’s (KESC) power tariff.

According to details, NEPRA conducted hearing of an application from KESC in Islamabad on Wednesday.

After completion of the arguments from all stakeholders, NEPRA approved reduction on fuel adjustment basis for the month of September and on quarterly review basis for the months of July to September.

A reduction of Rs.0.18 has been made on the fuel adjustment basis and Rs. 0.52 on the quarterly review basis. Trend Pk

Video shows Chile’s trapped miners in good spirits

COPIAPO: Miners trapped deep in a Chilean mine sent video footage showing them in good spirits as their families filed the first of potentially many lawsuits against the shaft owner.

Excerpts of the 45-minute video showed the men upbeat despite their 21-day ordeal in a hot and dank underground shelter.

“We’ve organized everything really well down here,” said one of the miners, sporting a scraggly beard and pointing to a corner reserved for medical supplies.

“This is where we entertain ourselves, where we have a meeting every day, where we make plans. This is where we pray,” he added in a video aired on Chilean television after it was shown to families of the 33 miners.

About a dozen other miners waved at the mini-camera, which was lowered earlier 700 meters (2,300 feet) below the surface via one of the metal capsules that have been ferrying supplies

KESC demands raise in power tariff by 19 paisas

Staff Report

KARACHI: Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) has demanded National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra), raise in power tariff by 19 paisas per unit under the fuel adjustment charges, said sources on Friday.

According to sources, KESC administration demanded the power hike under the fuel adjustment charges.

“The final decision of power hike was taken in the meeting held by Nepra on Sep. 20”, said KESC spokesman.

NEPRA has called consumers and high officials of fuel companies and KESC in the meeting.

It is pertinent to mention here that (Nepra) on Tuesday has approved a 26 paisa per unit hike in electricity rates under the monthly fuel adjustment formula. SAMAA

Iran starts to fuel up first nuclear power plant

BUSHEHR: Iran began fuelling its first nuclear power plant on Saturday after decades of delay and amid international fears it is seeking an atomic bomb and not just electricity.

State television showed live pictures of Iran’s nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi and his Russian counterpart looking on at what appeared to be a fuel rod suspended from the ceiling.

“The beginning of the first stage of the physical start-up has taken place,” said Sergei Novikov, spokesman for Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom.

Russia has built and supplied the fuel for the Bushehr plant, work on which was initially started by German company Siemens in the 1970s, before Iran’s Islamic Revolution.

Iranian officials say it will take two to three months before the plant starts producing electricity once the uranium-packed fuel rods are moved into the

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