1.
GV ZOOM IN TO CU.. tanker "S.S. Daniel Pierce"
0.11

2.
GV, CU, SVs, Tanker sinking
0.35

3.
LV Waves close over tanker
0.48



Initials ES. 1600 ES. 1612


TELERECORDING

Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: Unusual film of a tanker sinking in stormy seas was shot off Puerto Rico on Friday (August 20) when the S.S. Daniel Pierce, a grounded acid tanker that was threatening part of the island's fishing industry, was towed out to sea and scuttled. The 400-foot tanker ran around on a sand in the deep-water harbour at Guanica seven years ago. It was carrying a load of sulphuric acid and a hundred thousand gallons of fuel oil, and was abandoned where it lay. But recently, the acid began eating through its tanks, killing fish and releasing some of the fuel oil -- another danger to the fertile fishing grounds around the port. The livelihood of thousands of fishermen and their families was threatened. So a salvage firm was hired to re-float the Daniel Pierce and sink it seven miles off-shore, and the ship went down in the middle of a fierce tropical storm.