International News

INTERCARGO has published its Bulk Carrier Casualty Report 2012-2021. It reports that 27 bulk carriers of over 10,000 dwt were declared as total losses for the years 2012-2021.

According to INTERCARGO, bulkers losses took place as follows:
10,000-34,999 dwt: Six bulk carriers were lost, representing 22.2% of the total.
35,000 – 49,000 dwt: Five bulk carriers were lost, representing 16.3% of the total, with one loss related to suspected cargo liquefaction.
50,000- 59,000 dwt: Seven vessels were lost, representing 25.9% of the total, with the loss of 55 lives, accounting to 59.8%. Four of the casualties, were related to suspected cargo liquefaction. Continue reading “Bulk Carrier Casualty Report 2012-2021 published by INTERCARGO”

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has published its report on the engine room fire aboard the containership President Eisenhower, that took place on April 28, 2021, off California.

At midnight, on April 28, the President Eisenhower was about 6 miles south of Port Hueneme, California, navigating the northwest-bound traffic lane of the Santa Barbara Channel at a speed of 17.5 knots with the main engine operating at 68 rpm. The navigation watch group consisted of a third mate and two able seamen (AB). The master’s night orders included instructions to gradually increase Continue reading “Crew insufficiently swaging compression fitting ferrule led to containership fire is investigation finding”

International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) has published details of two incidents in which something went wrong owing to failures in the maintenance process. There were no reported injuries in either incident.

The first incident relates to the lowering of a lifeboat when a small shackle broke. The shackle held the upper sheave guiding the brake release wire, resulting in the sheave falling down on top of the lower sheave. Continue reading “Check that all equipment parts are movable and operational after maintenance process”

ABS has published industry best practices to address the challenges posed by an aging global Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) fleet.

Enhancing Safety on FPSOs: Operations and Maintenance is the output from an ABS-led working group consisting of Chevron, Shell Trading (U.S.) Company, Petrobras, MODEC and SBM as well as The Bahamas Maritime Authority (BMA), the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) Registry, and the U.S. Coast Guard 8th District. Continue reading “New report published to enhance FPSO safety”

The Swedish Club  has described a fatal fall incident in its latest monthly safety bulletin about how an AB lost his balance during a wire change operation, resulting in him falling onto the hatch cover from a height of about 8 metres and losing his life.

It was an early spring morning with clear skies and calm seas and the vessel was sailing in the open seas. The Chief Officer had assembled the deck crew in the deck office and instructed them about the planned job for the day which was to change the wire of one of the deck cranes. All members were designated a job and the risk assessment Continue reading “Fatal fall accident during a wire change operation”