Saturday, March 15

The captain of the Portuguese container ship that smashed into a US-flagged oil tanker earlier this week has been arrested and charged for the incident.

On Monday, the Stena Immaculate, an oil tanker belonging to the United States military, was anchored off the coast of the United Kingdom in the North Sea when it was hit by the Solong, a Portuguese-flagged cargo ship. Both ships suffered serious damage and a massive fire ensued, sparking rescue operations from the local coast guard. 36 people made it out of the incident, but one man is still missing and has been presumed dead.

Now, the captain of the Solong has been identified as Russian native Vladimir Motin, a 59-year-old, and he has been charged with gross negligence manslaughter. Investigations into the incident are still taking place, though, and the exact cause of the crash has not been determined. However, the captain will still face a trial in the United Kingdom, and he remains detained until then.

Meanwhile, pollution was initially a major concern for governments and environmentalists alike, but authorities have confirmed that no substances seem to be leaking from either ship. The Stena Immaculate was carrying over 220,000 barrels of jet fuel, which began leaking into the ocean on the day of the incident. The leakage was quickly stopped, though, and the remaining oil in the ocean was taken care of using floating barriers and dispersants.

In addition, the Solong was carrying 15 containers of sodium cyanide, a toxic chemical, but thankfully, none of that seems to have spilled into the ocean either.

Fact of the Day (Reader's Digest): You might already be aware that you shed your skin, and that much of the dust you see around your home is composed of dead skin cells. You shed skin nearly constantly, and your entire epidermis completely regenerates approximately every 27 days. While the amount varies greatly per person, you lose an average of 1.5 pounds of skin cells a year, which means that you’ll most likely shed at least half your body weight in skin cells throughout your entire life.

Quote of the Day (Gracious Quotes): I know how I look like. I know how I sound. I know how I walk. I’m just gonna be me. I do me, and you do you. (Caster Semenya)

Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Bamboozle (verb, bam-BOO-zul) - To bamboozle someone is to deceive, trick, or confuse them.

In a Sentence: The salesperson bamboozled us into getting a more expensive item than we had planned to buy.