UK aspirations to establish regulatory framework for autonomous shipping become clearer
The UK Department for Transport (DfT) has announced it is set to ‘unleash the UK’s potential as a world leader in future technologies’ with proposals to support the development of autonomous ships and shipping. The UK government is proposing to amend the current legal framework to take powers in primary legislation to regulate all Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) regardless of size, including craft that would not traditionally be considered ships.
Canal & River Trust wages battle to overcome invasive weeds in the Lancaster Canal
Throughout the summer and early autumn, a combination of warm weather, sunshine and extra nitrates from agricultural run-off create perfect growing conditions for duckweed, water fern, common reeds and Canadian waterweed and our canals can become overcome with invasive weeds. These fast-growing plants are spread by passing boats, canoeists, paddle boarders, anglers’ nets and walkers’ muddy boots and, left undisturbed, can form a thick green carpet on the water. This can then cause problems for boat engines, and its solid appearance makes it a potential danger for children and animals. Hotspots for the invasive weeds are low flow areas around the Lancaster Canal, Garstang, Cabus Nook, north Preston, Radcliffe Wharf and Woodplumpton.
A bill has been introduced before the US Congress designed to reform the 170-year-old regulation that limits maritime accident compensation. The effort is being led by California’s Congressman Salud Carbajal and Senator Dianne Feinstein and has been written to be retroactive to cover the 2019 fire aboard the dive boat Conception, which killed 34 people off the California coast.
The Carbajal-Feinstein bill updates an 1851 law that can prevent maritime accident victims and their families from receiving compensation from those responsible for the accident. Under the terms of the Limitation of Liability Act of 1851, boat owners can limit their liability tothe value of the vessel after the accident. The sponsors of the new bill said according to the current legislation the owner of the Conception dive boat may not be held financially liable for any losses incurred as a result of the fire – including loss of life – because the boat had no value after it was destroyed. The Conception was declared a total loss after the 2019 fire. Continue reading “New US bill proposes reforming liability for maritime accident compensation”
The potential catastrophic impact arising from the deterioration of abandoned cargo cannot be disregarded as a remote risk. However, the considerable costs accruing from container demurrage, detention, storage and disposal regularly result from cargo that, for a variety of reasons, is no longer required by the original receiver or consignee, and is simply abandoned at a port terminal or cargo facility. Increased risks of safety and regulatory infraction are inevitably consequent, as well as significant demand on management and operational resources to resolve individual cases. Continue reading “Abandoned cargo: alert to risk escalation”
Lessons learned from defect of lifeboat on-load cable release unit
During an annual lifeboat safety inspection it was discovered that the lifeboat on-load cable release unit could not be easily moved, and the release lever required extreme force to operate. The forward hook cable release also did not operate properly. A replacement cable release arrangement was procured locally, and repeated tests were conducted to confirm that it was once again fully operational.
The post-event investigation noted that the company’s shipboard safety operations manual required the lifeboats to be inspected on a weekly and monthly basis.
The CHIRP Maritime 2020 Safety Digest is available to read
The CHIRP Maritime 2020 Safety Digest has been released, an impressive 106 page report of the many incidents and cases it featured in its quarterly safety publications last year. The pdf can be downloaded at the end of the article. The following text is extracted from the introduction to the CHIRP Maritime 2020 Safety Digest, written by editor, Capt Alan Loynd.
Welcome to the fifth annual review of CHIRP Maritime reports, covering all the cases we published during 2020 and including a number of in-depth articles specially commissioned to highlight important safety topics. This has been a strange and disturbing year, dominated by Covid-19 and the global disruptions it has caused. Continue reading “CHIRP Maritime 2020 Safety Digest of reports published”
IIMS President speaks out: Beware the challenges of surveying steel hull inland waterways craft – and other considerations
IIMS President, Geoff Waddington, has spoken out passionately in light of a number of issues that are causing concern regarding the survey of steel hull inland waterways craft, steel narrowboats and barges in the UK particularly. His advice, however, is good practice for surveyors working around the world. The result is a helpful pdf document that can be downloaded and retained as a reference source (see below).
Geoff takes up the story:
I admit that I have only limited experience of inland waterways craft. My career in the marine industry started over fifty years ago on ships. Over the last forty years of surveying both large and small craft, I have been involved with the new construction of a wide beam barge, fitting out of a narrowboat, insurance investigations involving narrowboats and small, steel inland waterways craft, and of course many GRP motor cruisers designed for both use on inland waterways and RCD CE CAT B vessels, which were in use on inland waterways. Continue reading “Beware the challenges of surveying inland waterways craft”
As training onboard holds a positive and important role in the development and promotion of shipboard safety culture and to further bolster the Club’s hard and soft copy loss prevention publications, they are undertaking the production of a new loss prevention video series.
Maritime UKs Coastal Powerhouse Manifesto is available to read now
Maritime UK and the Local Government Association Coastal Special Interest Group (LGA Coastal SIG) have urged the UK government to come up with a clear strategy to stem the brain drain by launching a new Coastal Powerhouse Manifesto.
The Coastal Powerhouse Manifesto sets out proposals to boost connectivity to the rest of the country, extend freeport benefits to all coastal areas, install a shore power network across the coast to charge tomorrow’s Teslas of the seas, and develop new skills in coastal communities, including digital skills.
Container ship fires and explosions in port storage facilities continue to be the result of poorly packed dangerous goods and misdeclared hazardous materials as they move through the global supply chain. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) recently signed by two influential industry bodies, ICHCA International and IVODGA adds impetus to disseminating effective guidance on the correct safety procedures that need to be employed. According to international transport and logistics insurer TT Club, it is estimated that a major containership fire incident at sea occurs on average every 60 days.
The MOU has been signed by ICHCA International, representative of global cargo handling operators, including many of the leading cargo and container terminal groups, and the International Vessel Operators Dangerous Goods Association (IVODGA), whose membership consists of the world’s ocean carriers. Continue reading “Joint initiative to tackle dangerous goods storage and transport”
Alert issued for surveyors by Steamship Mutual about corrosion in the exhaust gas scrubber system
Steamship Mutual had published a risk alert to highlight the issues around the corrosion in the exhaust gas scrubber system. According to Vijay Rao, Loss Prevention at Steamship Mutual, corrosion in the exhaust gas scrubber system is a recognised issue requiring adequate corrosion protection measures to be in place in the installation. Despite this several cases of acidic corrosion within the scrubber discharge piping system have been reported and this is an increasing cause for concern.
Steamship Mutal notes that of particular concern is the case of severe corrosion in the section of the discharge piping outboard of the scrubber overboard valve – the distance piece. Wastage and failure of this piping section could, in worst case scenario, lead to flooding of the engine room. Continue reading “Steamship Mutual: alert about exhaust gas scrubber system”
Golden Ray NTSB report reveals inaccurate stability calculations as the cause of the capsizing
Inaccurate stability calculations caused the capsizing of the vehicle carrier Golden Ray that resulted in $200 million worth of damages, the National Transportation Safety Board reveals in its marine accident report. The report gives details of the NTSB’s investigation into the capsizing of the roll-on/roll-off vehicle carrier as it transited outbound through St. Simons Sound near Brunswick, Georgia on 8 September 2019.
All 23 crewmembers and one pilot on board were rescued, including four engineering crew who were trapped in the vessel for nearly 40 hours. Two crewmembers sustained serious injuries. The Golden Ray sustained significant damage due to fire, flooding and saltwater corrosion and was declared a total loss estimated at $62.5 million. An estimated $142 million worth of cargo, including more than 4,100 Continue reading “NTSB reveals stability calculations caused Golden Ray capsize”