Health & Safety

Loss of cargo containers overboard Ever Smart report published

Posted on by News Hound
Containers about to fall off the Ever Smart - Ever Smart: containers overboard
Ever Smart: containers overboard

MAIB have published their report on the container ship Ever Smart. On 30 October 2017, the UK registered container ship Ever Smart suffered a container stow collapse while on passage between Taipei, Taiwan and Los Angeles, USA resulting in containers overboard. The master had changed the ship’s passage plan to avoid severe weather caused by a developing depression east of Japan. The ship continued in heavy seas; rolling and pitching heavily with frequent bow flare slamming. Once the weather had abated, the crew discovered that the container stacks on the aft most bay had collapsed and toppled to port. Of the 151 containers in the stow, 42 containers overboard and 34 were damaged. Superficial damage was caused to the ship. Continue reading “Loss of cargo containers overboard Ever Smart report published”

Triple towboat sinking report published by NTSB

Posted on by News Hound
Towboat wreckage - Triple towboat sinking report published by NTSB
Triple towboat sinking report published by NTSB

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has published its report on a towboat sinking incident in which three towboats and an unnamed deck barge sank in the Illinois River while moored at the Jersey County Grain Company facility in Hardin, Ill. No crewmembers were aboard any of the vessels. Approximately 2,800 gallons of diesel fuel were released into the river and mostly recovered. Damage to the vessels, deck barge, and facility totaled an estimated $920,000.

Four vessels were involved in the towboat sinking: the 47-foot-long towing vessel Chattie Sue Smith, built in 1963, the 55-foot-long Mary-R, built in 1964; the 54-foot-long Mary Fern, built in 1978; and the 50-foot-long Teddi B, built in 1989, which was moored with the other vessels on the day of the accident but did not sink. The towboats, all equipped with twin propellers, were moored with a 50-foot-long-by- 18-foot-wide steel deck barge.

On July 5, 2019, the four vessels and the deck barge were moored on the right descending bank of the Illinois River at mile Continue reading “Triple towboat sinking report published by NTSB”

Scrubbers Coatings as important as quality material of scrubber components to prevent corrosion

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A man on a crane scrubbing the underside of a ship
Coatings for scrubbers

Corrosion has emerged as the arch-enemy of the exhaust gas cleaning systems as the uptake of the technology rose with the entrance into force of the IMO 2020 sulphur cap.

Like with any new technology, scrubber maintenance and operation has been a learning curve for ship owners and operators, especially in the context of preventing failures of the technology and reducing downtime.

“Corrosion mainly happens on the overboard pipes, the last piece from GRE piping and connection to shell plating of the hull, especially near the connections and welding seams, and the area on the external hull around the overboard pipe outlet,” said Manuel Hof, Sales & Production Executive, NACE Coating Inspector Level 2 at Subsea Industries.

“These areas will need to be protected against acid-containing water (highly corrosive sulphuric acid) coming from the exhaust gas cleaning system. Continue reading “Scrubbers Coatings as important as quality material of scrubber components to prevent corrosion”

USCG safety alert to address electrical installations knowledge gap issued

Posted on by News Hound
A pressure board installed on a ship - USCG safety alert to address electrical installations knowledge gap issued
USCG safety alert to address electrical installations knowledge gap issued

The United States Coast Guard (USCG) has issued a Safety Alert to emphasize the importance of properly installed and maintained listed or certified safe electrical equipment in hazardous areas in order to reduce the risk of fire or explosion onboard vessels. Publication follows an increasing number of instances by the Coast Guard where there was a lack of knowledge regarding the installation, training, maintenance and inspection of these certified systems.

Electrical equipment in hazardous areas is common; for example, 12% of all deficiencies written to gas carriers involved hazardous area electrical equipment.

PSC Officers (PSCOs) have found certified safe equipment improperly installed or identified missing components, which compromises the certification of the system and nullifies this critical protection in a flammable environment. In other cases, PSCOs found degraded components and evidence of equipment not being maintained or inspected. Continue reading “USCG safety alert to address electrical installations knowledge gap issued”

Golden Ray: Heavy crane set to lift and salvage capsized vessel

Posted on by News Hound
Picture of the Golden Ray - Golden Ray Photo by U.S. Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer John D. Miller
Golden Ray Photo by U.S. Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer John D. Miller

The team working on the removal of the capsized car carrier Golden Ray is preparing for the final stage of the operation to remove the vessel that has been lying on its side in St. Simons Sound since September 2019.

The twin-hull heavy lift vessel VB-10,000 arrived at the Port of Fernandina in Florida on July 3 for final modifications and function checks before heading to St. Simons Sound. The lift vessel is currently scheduled to arrive at the wreck site by mid-July.

The 255-foot tall gantries of the VB-10,000 made an impressive sight at the docks in Florida. The configuration of the rigging beams underneath the top of the gantries will be modified to prepare for the lifting on the Golden Ray.

Continue reading “Golden Ray: Heavy crane set to lift and salvage capsized vessel”

New white paper by National Cargo Bureau calls for a new approach to address container fires

Posted on by News Hound
National Cargo Bureau white paper calls for urgent action to prevent serious container incidents
National Cargo Bureau white paper calls for urgent action to prevent serious container incidents

A white paper published by the National Cargo Bureau calls for urgent reform to stem the increasing number of container related incidents caused by poorly stowed, undeclared or misdeclared dangerous cargoes. This follows a recent inspection initiative that revealed an alarming number of containers with misdeclared dangerous cargoes that represent a serious safety risk.

Consequently, the National Cargo Bureau, the US inspection body for Dangerous Goods regulations, is calling for industry to adopt a comprehensive, holistic and coordinated approach to address this worrying trend. The inspection initiative also showed that 55% of containers were non-compliant with 43% failing to secure dangerous goods correctly within the container itself. Approximately 6.5% of Continue reading “New white paper by National Cargo Bureau calls for a new approach to address container fires”

IIMS is supporting UK Maritime Safety Week

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MAIB Logo and the Maritimes Safety Week logo
MAIB Logo and the Maritimes Safety Week logo

My blog is long overdue for an update and what better time to scribble down a few words than at the start of UK Maritime Safety Week which runs from 6 to 10 July 2020. It seems appropriate to put the IIMS weight behind an awareness campaign of this kind, not least as one of the major roles of any marine surveyor, not just in the UK, is to help to keep lives safe at sea and to help protect vessels, cargoes and maritime assets.

UK Maritime Minister, Kelly Tolhurst MP outlined the objectives of the week:
– Recognise the excellent safety work that already goes on across the sector;
Continue reading “IIMS is supporting UK Maritime Safety Week”

Geo Therm Ltd picks up LR and ABS accreditation

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Geo Therm Ltd logo - Geo Therm Ltd picks up LR and ABS accreditation
Geo Therm Ltd picks up LR and ABS accreditation

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown the team behind Geo Therm Ltd has actively sought to gain the coveted Lloyds Register (LR) and American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) approved service supplier status, bolstering its existing ISO 9001:2015, FPAL and Safe Contractor accreditations.

As an independent third-party inspection company Geo Therm Ltd prides itself with performing condition monitoring inspections across the globe, to-date surveying in over 40 countries, as far north as the Arctic Circle to as far south as the Falkland Islands. The company has been supporting the offshore energy sector since 2002 with their inspection surveys to aid fleet with their safe systems of work remits, preventative maintenance, and regulatory commitments.

With the team was in lockdown, audit allocation and rechecking was undertaken online, ensuring all systems documents were current, fit for purpose and error free, while the actual LR and ABS audits being undertaken at Geo Therm Ltd’s premises in Reydon, Suffolk and the Continue reading “Geo Therm Ltd picks up LR and ABS accreditation”

Underwater examination and survey key requirements outlined by RMI Ship Registry

Posted on by News Hound
Underwater examination and survey key requirements
Underwater examination and survey key requirements

The Marshall Islands Ship Registry has issued a revised marine notice to outline the procedures and circumstances by which the underwater examination/survey of a passenger ship’s hull by divers in lieu of drydocking may be permitted.

Underwater Examination (UWE) is the inspection of the outside of the ship’s bottom while afloat as part of the Passenger Ship Safety Renewal survey while Underwater Survey (UWS) is the inspection of the outside of the ship’s bottom while afloat in lieu of a dry-docking, including measurements of shaft and rudder bearing clearances, as applicable.

Why Underwater Examination and Survey are important

Continue reading “Underwater examination and survey key requirements outlined by RMI Ship Registry”

Seed cake carriage in containers – updated guideline published

Posted on by News Hound
CINS Logo
CINS Logo

Earlier this year, the International Group and CINS, the Cargo Incident Notification System, jointly published guidelines for the carriage of seed cake in containers. An updated version has been released containing some minor changes to the text including an updated description and some clarification of details following queries received from container ship operators.

The carriage of these cargoes continues to cause confusion and the potential for mis-declaration remains high with the consequent risk of fire on board container ships. Seed cake is the term used for pulp, cake, Continue reading “Seed cake carriage in containers – updated guideline published”

Yanmar aiming for zero emissions using new engine technology

Posted on by News Hound
Yanmar are to develop a hydrogen fuel cell system
Yanmar are to develop a hydrogen fuel cell system

Yanmar Holdings and its subsidiary Yanmar Power Technology are to develop a hydrogen fuel cell system for marine applications based on vehicle fuel cell technology.

Initially the new maritime fuel cell system will be installed on Yanmar’s own test boat with field testing starting by the end of 2020.

The company will start with coastal vessels and work vessels in ports with the aim of expanding the Continue reading “Yanmar aiming for zero emissions using new engine technology”

Over 100 Flag State detentions according to the USCG 2019 Annual Report

Posted on by News Hound
USCG: Over 100 Flag State detentions
USCG: Over 100 Flag State detentions

The USCG has published its 2019 Flag State Control Domestic Annual Report, summarizing statistics regarding inspections and enforcement of regulations on US-flagged vessels. In comparison to 2018, the number of vessel inspections increased by 1,423 and the average number of deficiencies identified per inspection has increased from 1.26 to 1.48. The report also found that there were over 100 Flag State detentions.

As a result, the overall US Flag fleet inspection total increased in 2019 by 7%. Additionally, the number of deficiencies issued increased by 25% from the 2018 calendar year report. Continue reading “Over 100 Flag State detentions according to the USCG 2019 Annual Report”

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