BASF Acid-Carrying Ship Capsizes on Rhine, Halting River Traffic for Today [View All]

[IScreamSundays]

Source: bloomberg

A barge carrying sulfuric acid produced by BASF SE, the world’s biggest chemical company, capsized on the Rhine River in Germany today, leading authorities to halt traffic on Europe’s busiest waterway.

Two of the vessel’s four crew are still missing and local authorities haven’t yet determined whether the 2,400 metric tons of acid on board is leaking, Germany’s Federal Shipping Administration said today in a statement on its website. The river won’t reopen to shipping today, chief inspector at the Wasserschutzpolizei said by phone from Mainz.

The cargo was being transported to BASF’s facility in Antwerp, Belgium from its plant in Ludwigshafen, Germany, Ursula von Stetten, a company spokeswoman, said today by phone. BASF doesn’t own the vessel, she said. The shares fell as much as 2.5 percent in Frankfurt.

"Initially the market priced in some downside for BASF but now that its been confirmed it’s not their ship, valuations have quickly recovered," said Stuart James, a senior credit analyst at Lloyds Bank in London. "If it has leaked there will undoubtedly be clean-up costs for the ship owner to pay."

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-13/ship-with-acid-cargo-capsizes-on-rhine-halting-barge-traffic-in-germany.html