MV “Beluga Fortune“ and Beluga-Crew aboard are free again!

Since Monday afternoon, 25th of October 2010, there is great relief for Beluga Shipping: Only one day after being captured and seized by pirates in the Indian Ocean the mv Beluga Fortune and her crew of 16 people are free again even without the payment of a ransom. Thanks to regular (1) _____________________ of the Beluga-crew on board as well as the rapid intervention of the joined Naval Forces which had a warship coming alongside the Beluga vessel - the

pirates had no other opportunity than to give up their dream of a million Dollar ransom and to go on the run. With a luckily unhurt crew and only little damage to the vessel, on the bridge and the (2) _______________________ the multipurpose heavy lift project carrier now continues her journey to the port of destination Richards Bay, South Africa.

Reuters reports that when the pirates fired on the vessel and the freighter’s 16-man crew sent out a distress call and locked themselves in a panic room designed for protection from such an attack. From the room, the crew shut down the engines, (3) ________________ fuel and disabled the bridge.

Niels Stolberg, President of Beluga Shipping, is truly happy about the swift end of this dangerous capture: “Our colleagues on board have gotten off rather lightly from this attack. We have solved the situation very soon, which is a great relief to everyone at Beluga. Our not least financially outstanding effort to provide our seafarers with the greatest possible safety and security on the vessels as well as the ongoing practice of stressful situations and of well-considered behaviour during a pirate attack, all of which we have been training in seminars and workshops for many years, have given good results. The crew of the mv Beluga Fortune did act very (4) _______________ and processed through the safety-checklist in the fullest knowledge of every appropriate step: They have notified us of the imminent attack by alarm, they have entrenched themselves in the so called panic room which we installed for just such a purpose, they switched off the main engine, cut off the fuel supply, blocked the bridge technique and informed the military ferret aircraft on site by their radio system – hence, the pirates were unable (5) _______________ of the vessel and to misuse our seafarers as ‘dead pledge’ for the ransom demand. We are very proud of our team on board and are affirmed in our strategy that investments into safety and security are nothing else than well placed funds.”

9 Read the text and highlight the first actions taken by the crew of mv Beluga Fortune being under the attack.

10 Tick the proper variant.

1. The text is about

a) Beluga Shipping company

b) pirates’ attack of the mv Beluga Fortune

c) history of piracy

2. The pirates wanted a ransom of

a) $ 16 Million

b) $ 25 Million

c) $ 1 Million

3. Some damage was brought to

a) Beluga Fortune

b) pirates’ craft and a warship of Naval Forces

c) all ships

4. After hearing the fires the crew of Beluga

a) sent a distress signal and locked themselves in a panic room

b) damaged the cargo and abandoned the vessel

c) locked themselves in a panic room and established communication with the pirates

5. The crew of Beluga acted according to

a) their own decisions

b) safety rules and trainings

c) orders of the warship’s Captain

11 Mark the statements as True (T) or False (F). Correct the false ones.

1. Mv Beluga Fortune was attacked by the pirates and paid a big ransom.

2. As the crew acted properly, Naval Forces joined Beluga Fortune and the pirates had to leave the ship.

3. Two members from the freighter’s 16-man crew were hurt during attack.

4. President of Beluga Shipping said that the crew used the safety-checklist and that saved their lives.

5. The pirates used their radio system to communicate with the Beluga-Crew.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-23