The INTERCARGO Bulk Carrier Casualty Report provides an analysis of casualty statistics covering the years 2010 to 2019. Over that period, thirty-nine bulk carriers with 173 seafarers were reported lost, based on available reports of total losses and constructive total losses from public sources and IMO’s GISIS.
Cargo shift and/or liquefaction has been one of the greatest concerns for the safe carriage of dry bulk over Continue reading “INTERCARGO publishes Bulk Carrier Casualty Report”
Over the years there have been many incidents in the shipping industry involving leakage of flammable and toxic gases into pump rooms, void spaces, engine rooms and other compartments. A mixture of gas in the air beyond certain concentration levels can be life threatening for crew entering these spaces and pose a serious fire risk. The International Gas Carrier Code (IGC Code) states that gas detection equipment shall be installed to monitor the integrity of the cargo containment, cargo handling and ancillary systems, and should be tested in accordance with recognized standards. To ensure that the fixed gas detection system operates effectively, timely and accurate calibration of the sensors is critical.
On 3 February 2020 the United States Coast Guard (USCG) in their marine safety alert 02-20 highlighted Continue reading “Fixed gas detection system: How sure can you be that the correct gas concentration is displayed?”
The UK P&I club has published a risk identification guide entitled ‘Risk awareness passenger claims: Passenger ships and ferries – injury and illness – an aid to risk identification and loss reduction’. This essential booklet is a guide to the controls and key points that the UK Club’s Risk Assessors look for when inspecting a vessel.
It will allow you to carry out a similar check on the Threats and Controls and to make sure the vessel has a good risk profile.
Each Threat is followed by a ‘score’ section where the individual Controls can be graded according to how effective they are: Continue reading “UK P&I Club publish Risk identification guide for commercial vessel inspections”
The Swedish Club has analysed an incident of an accidental oil spill while bunkering in its recent club bulletin. The subsequent report by The Swedish Club highlights that the crew did not deploy the oil boom because of the potential cost implications. As a result the oil spread across the harbour.
The vessel in question was starboard side alongside and carrying out a cargo operation. The Chief Engineer had ordered a fuel barge to bunker 350 MT of fuel oil. The fuel barge came alongside on the port side in the morning. A hose was connected from the barge to the portside bunker station. The Chief Engineer had Continue reading “The Swedish Club shares lessons learned about an oil spill incident while bunkering”
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has published an investigation report on the engine room fire aboard the bulk carrier St Clair whilst in layup status at TORCO dock in Maumee River, Toledo, in February 2019. The investigation has highlighted a lack of operating procedures for continuous monitoring of the vessel while in layup.
About 2010 local time on February 16, 2019, a fire was reported on the bulk carrier St Clair while the vessel was laid-up for the winter at the CSX TORCO Iron Ore Terminal (TORCO dock) at the mouth of the Maumee River in Toledo, Ohio. No one was onboard. The fire was extinguished approximately 36 hours Continue reading “St Clair: Engine room fire on bulk carrier while in layup status report published”
Static towing assembly guidelines: This information paper supplements the OCIMF publication Guidelines to Offshore Tanker Operations (GOTO) and should be read along with the relevant guidance for static towing operations.
The purpose of this information paper is to provide technical guidance on selecting fit for purpose towing assemblies that minimise risk of injury to crew members or damage to equipment, and to optimise the effectiveness of static towing operations.
This paper discusses the technical factors that tug operators should consider, in collaboration with terminal operators, when selecting the components of towing assemblies for static towing operations at both Single Point Mooring (SPM) and Floating (Production) Storage and Offloading(F(P)SO) terminals.
The recommendations in this information paper come from extensive industry data gathering and a Continue reading “Static towing assembly guidelines published by OCIMF”
NTSB issued an investigation report on the overpressurization and rupture of a cargo tank on the cargo ship Fairchem Filly while at Houston Ship Channel, in May 2019. Investigators stressed that the vessel and terminal personnel involved were not following procedures related to cargo discharge and nitrogen-blanketing operations.
On 30 May 2019, about 0750 local time, the Marshall Islands-flagged chemical tanker Fairchem Filly, with a crew of 22, experienced an overpressurization of the number 3 port and starboard cargo tanks while discharging liquid hexene at Vopak Terminal in Deer Park, Texas.
The overpressurization resulted in damage to the number 3 port cargo tank and the tank top (deck). All cargo was contained on board the double-hulled vessel, with no pollution or injuries reported. Damage to Continue reading “Overpressurization and rupture of cargo tank onboard Fairchem Filly report published”
The Accident Investigation Board Norway (AIBN) has published an accident report on the matter of a crew member who died on board the factory trawler Nordstar relating to the with preparations for cleaning a silage tank.
The factory trawler Nordstar was on its way to Ålesund after fishing in international waters west of the Reykjanes Ridge. The vessel was to be made ready for fishing for another type of fish (from redfish to white fish) during the voyage, and the crew had finished cleaning the factory on the morning of 10 June 2018.
Later in the morning, the skipper instructed the factory supervisor to prepare the silage tanks for cleaning. This meant flushing the tanks by filling them with seawater and emptying them several times, before lowering a fan (not explosion proof) into the tank to blow in fresh air and lead air out of the tank via the attached plastic hose. According to the skipper, he had given instructions that the fan was to be lowered Continue reading “Nordstar: Exposure to lethal gas levels contributed to fisherman’s death says AIBN report”
The American Club has published helpful guidance specifically when third party surveyors are prevented from attending vessels about to load finished steel products.
All systems and equipment should be checked to make sure they are operational. During the voyage to the load port, ballast tanks adjacent to cargo holds should be pressure tested prior to loading, but only if the holds are free of cargo and safety permitting in every respect.
Caution should be taken when washing down holds with brackish river water, which may include saltwater chlorides. A freshwater flush and drying should be performed before loading, and tarpaulins can be laid on the tank top and lower sides of cargo holds, used in addition to dunnage, to provide a physical barrier Continue reading “American Club issues guidance for loading steel products when a surveyor is prevented from attending”
One of the first times the replica ship Pilgrim was mentioned in the Los Angeles Times, it was under the headline “Vagabond Youth.” It was 1974, and a group of young Southern Californians had answered an ad in the paper from Capt. Ray Wallace, who offered them the experience of a lifetime if they’d pay $1,000 and fly overseas to help him on a boating trip from the Spanish and Portuguese coast all the way back to Monterey — maritime experience recommended but not necessary.
Though the journey was a one-off for the Pilgrim and its crew, the vessel and that trans-Atlantic trip imbued all who spent time on it with a classic sense of adventure.
But after nearly 40 years anchored in in Orange County’s Dana Point Harbor, where hundreds of thousands Continue reading “Pilgrim, the Replica ship, sinks in Dana Point Harbor”
The UK Marine and Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has published its new Business Plan for 2020 to 2021.
Purpose
To improve marine safety by determining the circumstances and causes of marine casualties and promoting action to prevent reoccurrence
Vision
To be one of the most professional, effective, trustworthy and influential marine safety investigation Continue reading “MAIB business plan”
The UK Marine & Accident Branch (MAIB) has published a compendium of 25 cases it has investigated over the past months, with details of the incidents and their outcomes.
An extract from Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents, Andrew Moll’s introduction is as follows:
“I will start my opening comments by thanking Kathryn Neilson, Derek Cardno MNM and Paul Glatzel for the introductions they have written for the main sections of this edition of the MAIB’s Safety Digest. Their individual perspectives provide some insightful comments and, as ever, some useful pearls of wisdom.
Only a year ago, I wrote in my introduction about safe means of access, and that the MAIB had just started Continue reading “MAIB publish latest Safety Digest”
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