Oil tanker freed in Northwest Passage off Canada

A ship carrying 9m litres (2m gallons) of oil has been freed after running aground two weeks ago off the coast of northern Canada.

A Department of Transportation spokeswoman told AFP news agency the ship's owner had lightened the vessel's load by pumping out some of the oil.

The oil tanker was dislodged without leaking any oil into Arctic waters, the Canadian Coast Guard said.


The MV Nanny became stuck when it hit a sandbar in the Northwest Passage.

The operation to free the ship, which is owned by Newfoundland-based Woodward's Oil, took place over a period of two days near the village of Gjoa Haven in the Nunavut federal territory.

The Department of Transportation is conducting an investigation into how the oil tanker became stuck on the sandbar.

Gjoa Haven, or Uqsuqtuuq in the Inuktitut language, is the only settlement on King William Island.

The Northwest Passage is one of the most fabled sea routes in the world - the most direct shipping route from Europe to Asia through the Canadian Arctic. Historically, it has been ice-bound throughout the year.

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US News College Rankings

High School seniors across the nation have spent the last several months narrowing down their choices post-high school. The parents obviously have a say in what’s going on and where the students will attend. More importantly, the students ability to perform well in school and have a college education supplemented ranks high  regarding how specific colleges are chosen. For those doing their best to narrow down the choices, US News & World Report has published the US News College Rankings report for everyone to review.

The report includes large, research-oriented universities, liberal art colleges and of course schools that place a higher priority on undergraduate learning. Although the rankings offer up great information about various universities, it appears that the information is a bit one-dimensional. The top 20 schools in the list in both categories are rank depending on undergraduate academic reputation, graduation and freshman retention. Obviously other factors include faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources and alumni involvement. The US News College Rankings has added some more realistic information for those students and families prepping to enter college in the near future.

The new rankings take into consideration the best schools for “B” students, rankings of historically black colleges and universities as well as the diversity of the national universities. As a nation, we seem to be climbing out of the financial crisis, everyone is still looking to find the best education for their buck. The rankings have been divided now to include the national universities and liberal colleges based on average cost of attending and of course the needs of the students. The US News College Rankings now give the public a better look at the big picture of the various colleges and universities.

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