Odessa stink ship 'could explode'
OFFICIALS in the Ukrainian port of Odessa have held urgent talks to end the pollution threat posed by a ship carrying 3,000 tonnes of rotting bananas, which some say could explode.
Deputy city council leader Vyacheslav Kruk told his fellow representatives: "The ecological commission has received a letter from the port authority warning that if the methane concentration goes anywhere between 5-15% there could be an explosion."
The cargo ship Amfitrite I’s cargo of rotting bananas has gradually been polluting the atmosphere in the city for five months.
Amfitrite I arrived in Odessa on 14 September and was impounded when customs officers found 11kg of cocaine worth more than $1M in the engine room.
The local council met yesterday to debate how the consignment of long-decaying bananas can be prevented from polluting Odessa or causing even more damage, due to the methane it is emitting with increasing intensity.
But Igor Derboglav, the council's head for ecological safety, said that monitoring by his officials had found that the build up of the gas does not yet exceed the maximum possible amount.
There are 20 crew on board Amfitrite I, including Filipino, Ukrainian and Indian nationals. The shipowner has had to provide them with respirators and special clothing to try and protect them from the toxic air they are surrounded by.
The only respite they have, according to local reports, is when the wind blows toward the sea.