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The Independent Resue operation underway after Royal Navy destroyer is holed on rocks http://news.independent.co.uk/world/australasia/story.jsp?story=312969 AP 08 July 2002 Australian Navy divers arrived on a Pacific island today to assess damage to a Royal Navy warship and begin pumping out flooded compartments after it smashed into rocks off Australia's south-eastern coast. There were no injuries to the 253 crew of the HMS Nottingham, which was holed below the waterline near Lord Howe Island, 200 miles north-east of Sydney. Officials said the vessel had moved away from the rocks and was not in danger of sinking. The island's port operations manager, Clive Wilson, said the Australian dive team would help secure the damaged ship, which was anchored in a sheltered harbour. Island authorities were investigating reports of oil escaping from the Nottingham. Two New Zealand navy ships, the tanker Endeavour and frigate Te Mana, were also steaming toward the stricken ship. The accident happened as the ship moved close to the island to transfer a sick crew member to shore. "Having conducted that, the ship then turned back to sea and in doing so grounded on Wolf Rock," said Commander David Heley, a Royal Navy spokesman. He said some watertight compartments at the front of the ship were flooded after the collision. "The ship, however, is a destroyer. She is a warship designed to take a fair degree of action damage," said Cmdr. Heley. He said the vessel was on a routine trip from Cairns, in Australia's northeastern state of Queensland, to Wellington in New Zealand. The vessel left Britain in March and was due back in November or December, he said. The Ministry of Defense denied claims by anti-nuclear protesters that the ship was escorting a consignment of nuclear fuel being transported from Japan to Britain. --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
