Thames pleasure boat scare

Six crewmembers were safely evacuated from a Thames pleasure boat after it hit Westminster Bridge and was in danger of sinking.

The 30-metre long ‘Millennium City’, which can seat up to 500 people with two bars and an open top deck, was not carrying passengers at the time, but lifeboats, a fire service boat, and police boats rushed to its aid. The stricken vessel was towed to nearby Westminster Pier where firefighters used pumps to control the ingress of water, by then two metres deep, and successfully seal the engine room. A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Marine Support Unit said this morning that Millennium City was no longer in any danger and is now moored awaiting repairs. All six crewmembers on board the river cruiser were safely evacuated by the RNLI after the collision. The Metropolitan Police’s Marine Support Unit attended the incident and no arrests were made. It is not known if any of the crew will face charges relating to the collision.

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Knight & Carver Honored as Boatyard of the Year

Knight & Carver YachtCenter, which has emerged in recent years as one of the marine industry’s top-rated repair yards for megayachts and other large vessels, has been honored by the American Boat Builders & Repairers Association as the nation’s most outstanding boatyard for 2007.

The organization’s annual “Boatyard of the Year” award is made annually to the U.S. vessel repair company that, demonstrates excellence in all facets of business through commitment to customer relations, quality management, positive employee and vendor relationships, regard for the safety of their employees and their customers is a good steward of the environment, and innovatively employs technology to enhance marine business. Accepting the prestigious marine-industry award on behalf of Knight & Carver at the recent ABBRA awards ceremony in Atlanta were repair yard manager Mike Alvarez and production manager Giovanni LoCoco. “This award marks a significant achievement in our company’s long and accomplished history,” said President/CEO Sampson A. Brown. Known for specializing in megayacht refits, Knight & Carver will soon complete a major refit of Helios, a 194-ft Oceanco-built motoryacht that has undergone an extensive five-month renovation and upgrade. Knight & Carver specializes in the repair of large vessels, including luxury yachts, sportboats, commercial and military vessels.

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Coal prices jump, hit by the perfect storm

Coal prices have risen to a record this week in Asia as flooding in Australia, power cuts in South Africa and snowstorms in China restricted output.

This contributed to electricity shortages in China, the world’s fastest-growing major economy, and with the Lunar New Year holidays around the corner deep, anger is growing around the nation at these critical power shortages combined with massive queues at train stations – up to 600,000 people are now waiting outside Guangzhou train station. China is experiencing an acute power shortage with a nationwide electricity shortfall at 70 gigawatts, the equivalent of almost Britain’s entire generating capacity. State media has described the crisis as China’s worst-ever power shortage. So worried is the government that on Friday it put in place a two-month ban on coal exports. The coal shortages have forced the five biggest electricity producers to close 90 power stations – with a combined capacity of more than 20,000 megawatts – in northern and central China. Most parts of central and southern China are set to suffer weather that is more inclement in the next few days with some provinces facing snowstorms, and transport and energy supplies thrown out of kilter.

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