Tianjin Port Blasts – Thunderstorms complicate recovery
From AP (via ABC News):
Thunderstorms Tuesday complicated recovery efforts from last week’s massive explosions at a warehouse in China’s Tianjin port that killed at least 114 people, left 57 missing and exposed dangerous chemicals — including some that could become flammable on contact with water.
Experts have expressed concern that rain could spread some of the vast quantities of hazardous material at the site or set off chemical reactions sparking further explosions. Rain began falling mid-morning, but there was no immediate word of new blasts.
Underscoring the weakness of China’s system of industrial safety, the head of the national organization responsible for those efforts has been placed under investigation for suspected “severe violation of discipline and law” — standard shorthand for corruption — the ruling Communist Party’s anti-graft watchdog said Tuesday.
From Bloomberg (dated Aug 16th):
About 113 vessels are anchored in the sea off Tianjin port in northern China, days after explosions at a hazardous-chemicals warehouse there killed 112 people and injured more than 700.
There were 68 bulk carriers, 26 dry cargo and passenger ships and 11 tankers anchored outside the port as of 8:15 a.m. local time Monday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The total includes eight ships used to support floating platforms in the sea. That compares with 110 vessels anchored offshore on Aug. 14.
NOTE: Due to theses delays that may last 2-3 weeks, our partners recommend that if there is an urgent shipment, customers may consider shifting the cargo to Qingdao Port temporarily – which 550 km away from Tianjin Port.
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