Mafia Sunk Ships Carrying Radioactive Cargo

[Merlin]

Are these sunken radioactive cargo harmful only if their containers are broken open?

Mafia ‘was paid to sink ships carrying radioactive cargo’

17 Sept [Times] About 30 ships containing radioactive and other poisonous refuse may have been scuttled off the Italian coast in an illegal Mafia operation to dispose of dangerous substances at sea.

Italy’s political opposition yesterday demanded an investigation after the wreck of a cargo vessel containing 120 barrels of potentially radioactive waste was found in waters off the southern province of Calabria. Environmental campaigners said that many more ships containing toxic and radioactive rubbish were believed to lie near by.

The discovery of the Cunsky, sunk in 1992, came after her location was revealed to anti-Mafia investigators by Francesco Fonti, a former member of the ’Ndrangheta, or Calabrian Mafia, who has become an informant. Mr Fonti claimed that the Cunsky contained radioactive material.

Mr Fonti has told police that he had used explosives to sink her and two other waste ships. The introduction of tighter European Union environmental legislation in the 1980s made illegal waste disposal a lucrative business for organised crime.

Investigators using a robot submersible filmed the Cunsky lying in 1,600ft of water nearly 20 miles off the coast. They said that the ship’s name was not visible, but it tallies with Mr Fonti’s information. The submersible recorded images of containers marked “toxic”. ....

Sebastiano Venneri, of the environmental group Legambiente, said that several former ’Ndrangheta members had confirmed that it had been paid to sink ships with radioactive material “over the past 20 years”.

[Mobbme]

I don't know if its true, but it can be a rumour...

I heard the WAB guys are becoming an International Mafia. The oldskool guys from the US, UK, Canada, Australia, NZ, India, China, and Russia had a meeting and are figuring how to run this mofo. I would include Turkey but Kerem is going through initiation; tough to say if he'll make it though. Nevertheless, can be just rumours, who knows?

Those Italian mob guys better be careful, cuz the WAB mafia don't play

[tankie]

I don't know if its true, but it can be a rumour...

I heard the WAB guys are becoming an International Mafia. The oldskool guys from the US, UK, Canada, Australia, NZ, India, China, and Russia had a meeting and are figuring how to run this mofo. I would include Turkey but Kerem is going through initiation; tough to say if he'll make it though. Nevertheless, can be just rumours, who knows?

Those Italian mob guys better be careful, cuz the WAB mafia don't play

:)):)) yea dont mess with underboss don furkensturkercolonoscopy and hitman don amarshybumholeyo , from the planet Ur,anus

But if the story is true it depends on what type of containers are used and what was in them , but if highly toxic lets hope it washes up on the beaches and house fronts of the people who scuppered them

[Mobbme]

I can picture it right now. Tankie and Shamus are on a 3-way phone call with me givine me a pep talk telling me "all will be fine, just have a shot of that brandy, a job is a job" because OoE and Bluesman decided to send me (muscle), Gunnut (gun master), and Bolo (company) to Kuwait to get the job done.

[tankie]

I can picture it right now. Tankie and Shamus are on a 3-way phone call with me givine me a pep talk telling me "all will be fine, just have a shot of that brandy, a job is a job" because OoE and Bluesman decided to send me (muscle), Gunnut (gun master), and Bolo (company) to Kuwait to get the job done.

Yup , hic hic , off ya pop mr 6 pack

[Knaur Amarsh]

:)):)) yea dont mess with underboss don furkensturkercolonoscopy and hitman don amarshybumholeyo

But if the story is true it depends on what type of containers are used and what was in them , but if highly toxic lets hope it washes up on the beaches and house fronts of the people who scuppered them

You may now kiss the ring :))

[tankie]

You may now kiss the ring :))

But i dont do religeon , so whose ring would you suggest don bumholeyo , surely not yours ,, me lips would turn green cos its not gold :P

[SnowLeopard]

Well, a thing or two.

Certainly it does sound like a possibility for an enterprise but in 1992? As I recall, in that time, it was rather just as easy to sell the ship to scrappers in Alang and let them deal with such a problem. That was "the way".

Now, I could be wrong, have my eras mixed up, and who knows, maybe this was a small pilot project for a criminal enterprise.

But one has to remember that crime operates as a business and goes where it is profitable. That people buy into that business if it serves them......and back then, it just seems like it would have been easier to just ship the problem overseas. If the Russians were doing it with dumping and the US was doing it with abestos ships, why not the Europeans.

Granted, it seems like an interesting topic to search for now in the counter way, though.
______________________________________
("The Captain is paid to deport us but who will know if he deports us to Cygnus or just deep space?"--a prisoner in support of a ship rebellion of the London, (w,stte), "Blake's 7")

[Mobbme]

yup , hic hic , off ya pop mr 6 pack

:p

[sappersgt]

I can picture it right now. Tankie and Shamus are on a 3-way phone call with me givine me a pep talk telling me "all will be fine, just have a shot of that brandy, a job is a job" because OoE and Bluesman decided to send me (muscle), Gunnut (gun master), and Bolo (company) to Kuwait to get the job done.

You need something blown up? Let me check my calendar, I'm due for a "vacation". I'm bringing Shamus with me to verify results so we all get paid.;)

[Mobbme]

You need something blown up? Let me check my calendar, I'm due for a "vacation". I'm bringing Shamus with me to verify results so we all get paid.;)

Money is good. Let me take over night clubs n pop bottles n dance with models, then hand me the passports n connections and the job will be done ;)

[tankie]

Money is good.

Noooooooo , money is GOD ;)

[Merlin]

Are these sunken radioactive cargo harmful only if their containers are broken open?

Mafia ‘was paid to sink ships carrying radioactive cargo’

Nobody seems to have picked up on my original question.

I think the danger in the short term is that some containers may get cracked or crack open when the ship sinks and breaks up on the sea floor. In the longer term, steel containers may get corroded through by the sea water with time.

[tankie]

[QUOTE=tankie;674496

But if the story is true it depends on what type of containers are used and what was in them , but if highly toxic lets hope it washes up on the beaches and house fronts of the people who scuppered them[/QUOTE]


Merlin , i did pick it up ;)

[RustyBattleship]

The dumping of unwanted dangerous materials has been a problem ever since ships were built.

It's the "Out of Sight - Our of Mind" philosophy.

Besides drums or cylinders of toxic (radioative, poinsoness gas, biological and other no-longer needed chemicals) the oceans have been dumping grounds since long before any of us were born.

Besides the myriad of ships lying on the bottom (by accident or by torpedo), uncontrolled dumping of unwanted materials was almost routine.

My step-father who also worked at LBNSY was always furious when a repair request was received for the fuel overboard pumps that needed fixing. The ship's officers were disturbed that the pumps could not dump all the excess fuel (grade 2 black oil) before coming into the shipyard for repairs that often included fuel tanks and repainting them.

One of my co-workers was a bit disturbed when we saw film or read reports of the "Daisy Cutter" 15,000 lb aerial dropped bombs being used to make instant landing pads for helos in the Viet Nam jungles or clearing of mine fields by shock wave in Iraq. He said he was assigned to a disposal ship (a converted LST) after WW II to get rid of 10,000 lb (or greater) "Block Buster" bombs by rolling them off the side of the ship in deep water.

They're still down there as the shell casings were very thick to allow explosive pressure build up before bursting. So it will take a long time for them to rust through and have the seawater - hopefully - neutralize or wash out the explosive charge (TNT, Picric Acid, Gun Cotton, RBX or whatever else went BOOM).

When I went into a pierside office housing a certain Research outfit, they were laying out locations for explosives to be put into a Submarine. They had to be powerful enough and spaced just right to sink the sub immediately. But they couldn't be too powerful where they might damage certain materials on board designated to be disposed of at sea. What those materials were, I do not know. And I knew better than to ask.

So, Merlin, your original posting has not gone by deaf ears. If certain nasty things are ordered to be disposed of at sea, then it doesn't make any difference who it is if he is the lowest bidder.