Fireworks fly in Mt Isa as man does urban streak in his undies

"The Australian" By Anna Caldwell | October 27, 2008

A MAN running down the street in nothing but underwear and a bike helmet adorned with exploding fire crackers caused a stir in Mt Isa last night.

Mt Isa police Superintendent Les Hopkins said the spectacle began about 10.50pm when the man ran up and down Camooweal Street in the town's city centre, the Courier-Mail reported.

Supt Hopkins said that although the stunt sounded amusing and probably looked it, it was dangerous.

"He was running close to one of our main roads, where the big road trains travel," Supt Hopkins said.

"It could have been quite tragic."

Supt Hopkins said the man had not offered an explanation as to why he had attached the fire crackers to his head.

A 22-year-old man has been charged with being a public nuisance and possessing fireworks.

He will appear in court later.

Beihai Port Re-Opens 24th October Afternoon

Beihai port has announced it will resume handling of fireworks containers this afternoon.

A new group of staff has been formed at the port to oversee the container loading process. They will ensure the number of fireworks containers being handled will remain within the safety limit of 100 containers per week.

MOL stops accepting fireworks containers from Shanghai to West Coast as of next week

Due to the economic downturn and reduced demand for services from China to the US, many shipping companies are consolidating their services with other lines, or re-routing their routes to make their sailings more profitable.

As of next week, MOL will stop accepting fireworks container from Shanghai to US West Coast and IPI via USWC. This is because their West Coast service will be using HYUNDAI vessels which do not accept fireworks. They will continue to accept fireworks to East Coast via all water services and destinations with port of entry on the East Coast.

MOL will maintain accepting fireworks container from Beihai to all destinations in USA.

This means that from Shanghai, there are now 4 shipping lines accepting 1.4G to the US West Coast: APL, Maersk, Matson and Cosco. From Beihai, there is MOL, Maersk and APL.

Beihai Port Re-Opens!

Beihai port starts accepting fireworks again!

However, there are still no transport permits being issued for transportation of fireworks from Hunan into Beihai. Permits most likely will be issued when the 5th China-ASEAN Expo and the 5th China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (Held in Nanning, Beihai from Oct. 22-25) finishes.

This means for now, Beihai port will only be officially available to fireworks made in Guangxi.

Beihai port suddenly stops handling fireworks shipments

After returning from National Day holidays, it was announced that from October 4th, 2008, Beihai port will stop accepting fireworks shipments. After inspection by Government departments, the port was informed they needed to restructure their port to conform to safety requirements before it can handle fireworks. We are waiting for more news about the development of the situation in Beihai.

Shanghai port can now accept 1.3G shipments, but only to Europe and NO DISPLAY SHELLS.

This obviously puts a lot of pressure on Shanghai port for peak season New Year's shipments and will cause major disruptions to shipments of display shells from China.

However, the biggest concern is this will open up to more cases of misdeclaration of 1.3G shipments as 1.4G or shipment of shells on shipping lines that clearly states they will not accept display shells, or worst the shipment of fireworks as “general cargo”.

20th Macau International Fireworks Display Contest 2008

Winners announced!

First: Brezac Artifices, France
Second: Tamaya Arts Pyro Technics Japan
Third: Wan Dar Fireworks, Taiwan

Congratulations to Brezac!!