Effective lube oil analysis crucial for vessels’ machinery systems

The American Club has analysed the importance of regularly performing lube oil analysis for shipboard machinery, and has provided measures to prevent potential problems in a useful guidance document.

Oil analysis is important as it can help identify problems in the machinery such as abnormal wear, lube oil degradation, contamination of harmful agents, etc. all of which can lead to the potential failure of the machinery and its components. Failures can lead to a loss of propulsion and/or blackouts that can cause consequential incidents such as groundings, collisions, or damage to third party property. Periodic oil analysis can help maintain a proactive maintenance strategy, thus maintaining component life, mitigation of premature component failure and improved Mean Time Between Overhauls (MTBO). Continue reading “Effective lube oil analysis crucial for vessels’ machinery systems”

Reefer claims increase sharply over the pandemic is key report finding

A new report by the Swedish Club, called “Container Claims – Refrigerated Containers,” has identified a peak in refrigerated (reefer) container claims during the pandemic as a result of disruptions in the supply chain, with a high number of reefer containers being delayed either in port or during transportation to and from port via road or rail.

Between 2021 and 2022 the Club saw an increase in reefer container claims of 270%, with 4.1% of all container vessels having a reefer claim in 2020 compared with 11.4% in 2021. Reefer containers are the main cause of all container claims with 30% of the Club’s total container claims being due to refrigerated cargo damage over the last five years. Continue reading “Reefer claims increase sharply over the pandemic is key report finding”

River Canal Rescue’s callouts set to reach an all-time high by the end of the year.

The inland waterways rescue organisation, River Canal Rescue, says figures up to September 30 are already 3318, ahead of 3235 logged for 2021, and 2850 rescues in 2020.

The callouts have generally been for electrical, fuel and engine issues, flat batteries, over-heating and gear box failures, with River Canal Rescue saying the rise is due to the high number of people unable to visit and maintain their boats during lockdown, resulting in minor niggles now becoming larger problems.

“Figures are currently at an unseasonable high and we still Continue reading “River Canal Rescue’s callouts set to reach an all-time high by the end of the year.”

Reducing container loss guidance published by Britannia P&I Club

Britannia P&I Club has published guidelines for containerships to deal with parametric roll motions. In the guidance, Britannia explains how ships can successfully identify parametric roll and what is triggering it.

Unfavourable combinations of rolling period, vessel speed, heading and wave conditions can trigger sudden and extremely rapid increases in roll motions, which might lead to excess loading on container securing devices and, in the worst cases, container stack collapses and container losses overboard. Continue reading “Reducing container loss guidance published by Britannia P&I Club”

Electrical repairs should be done by suitable qualified individuals

Electrical repairs should be done by suitable qualified individuals
Electrical repairs should be done by suitable qualified individuals

In its most recent series regarding lessons learned from accidents, the American Club has described an incident where an engineer was shocked by electricity.

The engineer on a towing vessel was making a routine round in the engine room. He checked the level of fuel in the day tank and saw that he needed to transfer fuel from a storage tank into the day tank. He regularly did this approximately every 2 days depending on the vessel’s speed and the number of barges in the tow. He checked the day tank level and lined up the valves to transfer the fuel. As he flipped the switch to turn on the fuel transfer pump, he received an electrical shock to his hand. Continue reading “Electrical repairs should be done by suitable qualified individuals”

West of England P&I Club launch new video aimed at engine room fire safety

A snapshot from the video on engine room fire safety
A snapshot from the video on engine room fire safety

A new video has been added to the West of England P&I Club’s LEARN THE ROPES video series, which deals with engine room fire safety to highlight the potential sources that can result in the development of a fire in the engine room and critical factors that the vessel’s crew and superintendent should pay constant attention to for their prevention.

Fires on ships present extreme danger. Engine room fires are challenging to combat due to the confined space and an abundance of fire triangle elements: heat, fuel and air. Continue reading “West of England P&I Club launch new video aimed at engine room fire safety”

Port of Antwerp and partners to launch cargo temperature monitoring service

Photo credit: Port of Antwerp
Photo credit: Port of Antwerp

The Port of Antwerp is working along with three partners to launch Europe’s first end-to-end cargo LoRaWAN based cargo temperature monitoring service.

The Port of Antwerp, Europe’s second-largest container hub, is collaborating with Foodcareplus, an international logistics provider, Dockflow, a building logistics enablement platform, and TrakAssure,a provider of cargo monitoring solutions. They have announced a service offering cargo temperature condition monitoring for logistics assets and cargo, and providing exception alerting solutions for Continue reading “Port of Antwerp and partners to launch cargo temperature monitoring service”

The Great Disconnect report finds shipowners pay an average of $3.1 million in ransoms due to cyber attacks

Cyber risk management is the subject of the Great Disconnect report
Cyber risk management is the subject of the Great Disconnect report

Recent research explores the maritime industry’s relationship with cyber security risks, and makes recommendations to shipowners and operators to improve how those risks are managed within their organisations.

The Great Disconnect report is a collaboration between produced by maritime cyber security company CyberOwl, maritime innovation agency Thetius and law firm HFW. After taking into account the views of more than 200 industry professionals through a combination of an industry survey and research interviews conducted Continue reading “The Great Disconnect report finds shipowners pay an average of $3.1 million in ransoms due to cyber attacks”

The importance of verifying wire rope terminations

Wire rope and its associated cable assemblies are an essential part of the marine industry in a variety of load-handling applications. In many instances, maintenance and replacement of these cables involves multiple layers of fabrication and service providers who rely on quality management processes to ensure the correct product is supplied to the end-user.

On January 4, 2021, a Fast Rescue Craft (FRC), while being manually winched to its stowed position onboard a floating offshore installation in the Gulf of Mexico, fell approximately 135 feet into the water when its wire rope end termination failed. Luckily, the crew of the FRC had exited the craft just moments before the incident. The subject wire rope in the casualty had failed within one month of its Continue reading “The importance of verifying wire rope terminations”

Twist-lock foundations should be inspected regularly

Corrosion found on twist-lock foundations
Corrosion found on twist-lock foundations

The American Club has published guidance and some lessons learned following an incident that involved corrosion of the twist-lock foundations and pad eyes.

A general cargo vessel had been modified to carry containers on the cargo hatches. Various twist-lock foundations and pad eyes had been welded to the hatch covers to secure containers. While the vessel was in port preparing to offload and load containers, the newly arrived Chief Officer noticed that many of the twist-lock foundations and pad eyes were significantly corroded. He raised his concern with the Master. They jointly inspected them and found them likely to be unsafe due to the excessive corrosion. Continue reading “Twist-lock foundations should be inspected regularly”

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