The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has released its investigation report into the grounding of the tanker Bow Singapore in Port Phillip Bay, Victoria, in August 2016, highlighting both procedural and maintenance issues as contributing to the accident.
On August 19, 2016, a Port Phillip Sea Pilot boarded the vessel. The pilot was to conduct the ship through The Rip and the South Channel to an anchorage in the northern part of Port Phillip.
Raising the bar in Vessel Assurance through IMCA eCMID accreditation
Stephen Birt, Chairman of the IMCA Marine eCMID Committee, has written this short article.
Those of you in the Offshore maritime industry are no doubt very familiar with the International Marine Contractor’s Association (IMCA) Common Marine Inspection Document (eCMID), or perhaps the smaller vessel equivalent Marine Inspection for Small Workboats (eMISW). In this article I use eCMID to include eMISW.
However, not everyone is aware of the recent upgrades to the system and database that have seen the most recent version (revision 10) released in July 2016, incorporating extra and refined supplements for various vessel types (including DP vessel and Heavy Lift for example), and also a review of the approximately 250 general vessel questions. Continue reading “Raising the bar in Vessel Assurance through IMCA eCMID accreditation”
The US Coast Guard has published the SS EL FARO Marine Board of Investigation report, which includes a detailed account of the accident along with the MBI’s conclusions on contributing factors and recommendations. The loss of the US flagged cargo vessel EL FARO, along with its 33 member crew, ranks as one of the worst maritime disasters in US history, and resulted in the highest death toll from a US commercial vessel sinking in almost 40 years.
The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) examines and investigates all types of marine accidents to, or on board UK vessels worldwide and other vessels in UK territorial waters. This Safety Digest (02/17) draws the attention of the marine community to some of the lessons arising from investigations into recent accidents and incidents. It contains information which has been determined up to the time of issue.
In his introduction to the Safety Digest, Steve Clinch, Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents for the MAIB says, “A fire is one of the most frightening things that can happen at sea. Often, seafarers have no ready access to the emergency services when a fire breaks out and will need to rely on their own resources, courage and training to tackle and extinguish the blaze quickly to ensure the safety of the ship and everyone on board. After reading one of the cases while editing this edition of the Safety Digest, I found myself thinking about the recent fire that engulfed Grenfell Tower, a west London residential tower block. This was an horrific incident; 80 people are currently presumed to have died but the ferocity of the fire means that the final death toll may never be known for sure. Why the Grenfell Tower fire spread so quickly is the subject of intense debate but its source was attributed to a domestic fridge/freezer that overheated. Case 10 provides a reminder that fires can quite easily start in a similar way on a ship. In that case a fire was caused when a travel fridge was placed on the carpeted area of the deck in a cabin; the lack of air circulation around the unit caused the fridge to overheat… fortunately the crew were able to extinguish the fire without too much damage being done.” Continue reading “MAIB issues an essential Safety Digest featuring 25 cases”
A six metre long model of the final design of the autonomous and zero emission container vessel “Yara Birkeland” was launched in SINTEF Ocean’s sea laboratory in Trondheim, Norway, on 28 September.
In May, Yara announced the partnership with technology company Kongsberg to build the world’s first electric container ship.
The vessel will be built and put to use late 2018, as part of Yara International’s logistics value chain at the plant in Porsgrunn, Norway. The project is a collaboration between Yara and KongsbergGruppen, a Norwegian technology company.
Yes I know I look ridiculous; but I could not resist trying the tin hat on at the Cabinet War Rooms
The past month has flown by and what a progressive month it has been, in fact a non-stop merry go round at times!
The IIMS Conference in London, Dinner and the AGM at Regent’s University were all successful, but I was saddened by the low number of members who came to London this year. As a consequence of the poor turn out, the management board has reassessed the future role of the London Conference and an announcement will be made soon. But for those who did attend, what a treat they had over the two days. I personally thought the presentations were not only relevant but also of the highest quality, delivered by people who were both knowledgeable and passionate about their subjects. You can watch any or all of the 10 videos that we made over the two days on the IIMS YouTube channel. And what a venue we chose for our Conference dinner. On reflection, the Churchill Cabinet War Rooms proved to be an inspirational choice, much enjoyed by those who attended.
On the 8th September 2017 the International Convention of the Control and Management of Ship’s Ballast Water and Sediments (BWM Convention) entered into force. With a few exceptions, according to Seagull Maritime, it will apply to all ships in international trade beginning in 2017 and fully implemented in 2024.
Complex in parts, there are a number of conditions that officers must meet in order to avoid problems in relation to topics such as Port State inspections. In essence, existing ships MUST comply with the convention. This means that the ballast water must be exchanged on the journey if a treatment system is not installed.Vessels must also be equipped with a International Ballast Water Management Certificate (or statement of compliance) and an approved ship-specific Ballast Water Management Plan.
Beware of fuel oil quick closing valve deficiencies
The Bahamas Maritime Authority (BMA) has published a technical alert aimed at highlighting some major quick closing valve deficiencies, which it has observed during Port State Control inspections. These deficiencies are considered of importance and often lead to detention.
Quick closing valves are fitted to oil tanks so that in the event of a fire they can be safely closed from a remote location to stop the supply of fuel to the fire. These valves may be operated remotely by pull wires, hydraulics, compressed air, etc.
The Marine Safety Investigation Unit has issued an investigation report on the fatality of a crew member on board the Maltese registered container ship, Sydney Trader, off Port Limits Anchorage, Hong Kong that occurred in September 2016. The report, (which can be downloaded below), provides a description of what happened and the safety conclusions and recommendations.
The incident
The Maltese registered container vessel Sydney Trader had been anchored OPL at Hong Kong, China since 19 June 2016, awaiting orders for the next charter. At 0730, on 02 September 2016, the chief mate instructed the bosun to continue routine maintenance work in cargo hold no. 2. The chief mate also confirmed that all the Safety Management System (SMS) risk assessments and Permit to Work forms had been completed and signed before the bosun left the bridge at 0750. Continue reading “Wire failure results in fatality onboard Sydney Trader”
A combination of ever larger container vessels, coupled with a number of recent fires onboard boxships has caused the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) to call for better firefighting systems. IUMI urges improved firefighting systems. Consequently it and has published a paper calling for better onboard firefighting systems specifically for container vessels.
Whilst IUMI expressly welcomes the 2014 amendment to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) to increase the effectiveness of firefighting, the association believes more should be done to prevent fires onboard boxships.
The IIMS distance learning commercial ship and yacht and small craft education programmes were recently nominated for an Award in the International Maritime Club’s Golden Shield Excellence Awards 2017 in the ‘Leading Maritime Training Institute’ category. And at the ceremony itself on Friday 15 September 2017 at the Lloyd’s Old Library in London, IIMS was announced as the winner in this category.
On the night of 21 December 2016, the Danish offshore supply ships MÆRSK SEARCHER and MÆRSK SHIPPER capsized and sank in the Bay of Biscay, off the French coast, while being towed by another offshore supply ship, MÆRSK BATTLER, en route to Turkey. The Danish Maritime Accident Investigation Board has now published a report on the accident.
The incident
The ships were configured in a side-by-side towing setup during the voyage. During the passage of the English Channel, the fenders between the ships on tow failed, and the ships started to interact. This caused damage to the ships’ superstructure, which eventually compromised MÆRSK SEARCHER’s watertight integrity and led to water ingress. MÆRSK SEARCHER capsized and sank, and subsequently MÆRSK SHIPPER was pulled under by MÆRSK SEARCHER. The crew on MÆRSK BATTLER carried out a controlled breakage of the towing wire and came loose of the foundered towage. Continue reading “Poor risk assessment contributed to the sinking of two MÆRSK supply ships says newly published DMAIB report”
