Jul 29 - In what can only be considered a facepalm of epic proportions, the coal tramper, TB Marina, coming out of Bengkulu with a load of a mere 7,000 tons of sweet bitumen was tossed about in rough seas during high tide off the coast of Lampuuk beach causing the barge to become detached and eventually ran aground a few coal stone’s throw away from shore. All 7,000 tons dumped into the waters and eventually made it to shore in a pretty effective beach replenishment if that is what they were going for. Now I know what you are thinking, hey there's no coal-fired power plant in Besar District the nearest one I can think of is Nagan Raya which is nowhere NEAR Lampuuk, and of course you would be right. The load was destined for the pretty innocent PT LafargeHolcim (or is it HolcimLafarge, I have no clue where that merger is at these days other than the Paris Op hanging an abandoned sign in its front window), a cement manufacturer and if at this point you are saying wait a second when is coal used to make cement, all I can say is you have no imagination whatsoever.
Anyway, not much to see here, Lafarge is just thinking, where’s my damn coal I need to make some cement, meanwhile, TB Marina is back in the water scooting up and down the Indonesian coast, meanwhile, its not like this is the first time this ever happened, with the same thing happening off the plant coast in 2016, when 2,000 ton were dropped in almost the exact same story. So I say the local population just got themselves some free firestarters that will probably last them hopefully until Christmas where they won’t have to worry about getting anything bad in their stocking this year for sure. Indonesians celebrate Christmas, right?