West of England P&I Club says More can be done to prevent engine room fires

Burnt engine room - Photo credit: West of England P&I Club
Photo credit: West of England P&I Club

West of England P&I Club says that it is well known that fires on ships require a lot of effort to address. And they risk all those on board, presenting extreme danger to the vessel. Engine room fires are especially challenging to put out because of the potential confined nature of the scene and an abundance of fire triangle elements; namely heat, fuel and air.

Now, condition surveys conducted by the West of England P&I Club repeatedly present worrying examples of substandard fire safety in engine rooms which can easily be avoided by taking some simple steps.

The main sources of ignition in the engine room include hot exhaust manifolds of engines, boilers and indicator valves of the engines. When flammable Continue reading “West of England P&I Club says More can be done to prevent engine room fires”

Shipwreck of 500-Year-Old Vessel Discovered in Baltic Sea

Underwater picture of the wreckage - Credit: Deep Sea Productions/MMT
Credit: Deep Sea Productions/MMT

An international team of scientists has announced the discovery of a shipwreck. The 500-year-old ship remains pristinely intact in the cold, dark depths of the Baltic Sea.

Scientists say the shipwreck is perhaps the best preserved shipwreck of its period yet to be discovered.

It was first detected in 2009 by the Swedish Maritime Administration using state-of-the-art sonar. For years it went unexplored until earlier this year when, as part of work carried out by survey specialists MMT, the wreck was identified as having great archaeological and historical significance.

Further inspection of the wreck was led by Dr. Rodrigo Pacheco-Ruiz, Continue reading “Shipwreck of 500-Year-Old Vessel Discovered in Baltic Sea”

BSU draws attention to watertight integrity after collision

 

BSU draws attention to watertight integrity after collision
BSU draws attention to watertight integrity after collisionGermany’s Federal Bureau of Maritime Casualty Investigation (BSU) has drawn operators’ attention in a recent collision incident involving a container ship and a fishing vessel on the river Elbe off Stadersand earlier in 2019.

The German schooner ‘No. 5 Elbe’, built in the 19th century, collided with the Cyprus-flagged 141-meter-long container ship ‘Astrosprinter’ about 30 kilometers (18 miles) west of Hamburg on 8 June 2019.

A total of 28 passengers and 15 crew were onboard the schooner at the time of the incident.

The vessel managed to reach the Schwinge estuary without assistance, Continue reading “BSU draws attention to watertight integrity after collision”

Hapag-Lloyd tests ship-painting robots

Ship-painting robot in motion
Ship-painting robot in motion

Traditional manual work is increasingly being replaced by automated processes, such as self-driving Automated Guided Vehicles in container terminals. Thanks to robots, the quality of ship painting can also be improved and the docking time shortened. Hapag-Lloyd is currently testing the process with nine ships.

Keeping barnacles, mussels and algae off the hull – the subject of fouling is as old as shipping itself. Fouling dramatically increases drag, which results in high fuel consumption and makes it harder to achieve climate targets. So, it’s a question that repeatedly arises: How can fouling be efficiently and reliably prevented over a period of five years, when a vessel will have to go into a shipyard anyways for its regular classification survey? Continue reading “Hapag-Lloyd tests ship-painting robots”

Mis-declared dangerous cargo cause of KMTC Hong Kong fire

KMTC on fire
Photo credit: Reuters

Port Authority Director of Thailand, Kamolsak Phromprayoon, has reported that the fire onboard the ‘KMTC Hong Kong’ containership was due to mis-declared chemical cargoes of calcium hypochlorite and chlorinated paraffin wax.

More than 130 people were transferred to hospital after an explosion and fire onboard the South Korean container ship ‘KMTC Hong Kong’ while berthed in Thailand’s eastern Laem Chabang port.

The port Authority inspected 35 containers at the centre of the blaze and more than half of them contained chemical products.

Continue reading “Mis-declared dangerous cargo cause of KMTC Hong Kong fire”

The long awaited report into the loss of Stellar Daisy is published by the Marshall Islands

Stellar daisy ship
Stellar daisy ship

The Maritime Administrator of the Republic of the Marshall Islands has released its long-awaited report for publication on the investigation into the 2017 loss of the Stellar Daisy in the South Atlantic.

The Marshall Islands-flagged Stellar Daisy, a 266,141 DWT very large ore carrier, sank on March 31, 2017, approximately 1,700 nautical miles from Uruguay while underway from Brazil to China with a cargo of iron ore for Vale. Of the 24 crewmembers on board, only two were rescued. The other 22 are missing and presumed deceased.

The wreck of the vessel was only located last February in 3,461 meters of water.

The investigation determined that the likely direct cause of the foundering was a rapid list to port following a catastrophic structural Continue reading “The long awaited report into the loss of Stellar Daisy is published by the Marshall Islands”

Windfarm crew transfer vessels are getting larger

MHO Gurli and MHO Esbjerg are operated from the third deck, where the wheelhouse and workstations enjoy uninterrupted vision of the turbine tower and surrounding working areas.
MHO Gurli and MHO Esbjerg are operated from the third deck, where the wheelhouse and workstations enjoy uninterrupted vision of the turbine tower and surrounding working areas.

Tasmanian high speed catamaran designers Incat Crowther recently announced the delivery of the 39m Multipurpose Crew Transfer Vessels ‘MHO Gurli’ and ‘MHO Esbjerg’.

The vessels were built by PT Bintang Timur Samudera in Indonesia and delivered to MH-O & Co to be operated in European waters for Orsted in their Hornsea Project One offshore wind farm.

The vessels, designed by Incat Crowther, are the largest Wind Farm Support Vessels to enter service to date anywhere in the world. They draw on Incat Crowther’s experience with larger offshore fast catamarans operating in the oil and gas industry.

The platform was specifically designed to deliver exceptional seakeeping, stability and comfort, whilst accommodating a highly redundant quad-engine / quad-jet propulsion package.

Continue reading “Windfarm crew transfer vessels are getting larger”

IMO Sub-Committee finalises draft amendments to ventilation requirements for survival craft

During the meeting of the IMO Sub-Committee, a correspondence group was established.
During the meeting of the IMO Sub-Committee, a correspondence group was established.

The IMO Sub-Committee on Ship Systems and Equipment held its 6th Session from 4 to 8 March 2019. The meeting focused on improvements in ventilation conditions of survival craft that will be achieved by finalising draft amendments to the LSA Code on ventilation requirements for survival craft and draft amendments to the ‘Revised recommendation on testing of life-saving appliances’.

Mainly, the Sub-Committee discussed the draft amendments to the LSA Code, relating to ventilation requirements of totally enclosed lifeboats.

In the meantime, the meeting made progress in developing draft amendments to the revised recommendation on testing of life-saving appliances regarding the ventilation of survival craft, aiming to ensure a habitable environment is maintained in such survival craft.

Continue reading “IMO Sub-Committee finalises draft amendments to ventilation requirements for survival craft”

Ensuring safe passage for a steel coil cargo

Steel coils come in many sizes and weights, and can be arranged in various ways regarding the placement of the locking coil, the number of tiers, and the dunnage.
Steel coils come in many sizes and weights, and can be arranged in various ways regarding the placement of the locking coil, the number of tiers, and the dunnage.

Often cargo planners who are preparing the stowage of steel coils in the cargo hold of a general dry cargo ship or bulk carrier, do not have the necessary cargo type specific information required to help them decide the permissible cargo load, thus preventing damage to the ship’s structure.

As Jan Rüde, Ship Type Expert MPV, DNV GL explains, according to SOLAS Chapter VI, Reg. 5, every ship must have an approved cargo securing manual.

Nonetheless, the majority of these manuals do not include detailed information about the carriage of steel coils or the only contain only particular types of steel coil. Continue reading “Ensuring safe passage for a steel coil cargo”

Unsecured deck hatches led to sinking of Ricky Robinson

The Ricky robinson at harbour
The Ricky robinson at harbour

The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued an investigation report on the sinking of the towing vessel ‘Ricky Robinson’ on the Lower Mississippi River, in December 2017, which caused death of the two crewmen onboard, oil discharge and significant damage of the vessel.

On 8 December 2017, about 11:26 local time, the Ricky Robinson capsized and sank on the Lower Mississippi River at mile 732.8 near Memphis, Tennessee, with two crewmembers on board, after the towing vessel began taking on water.

The pilot made a distress call just before the sinking; neither crewmember was found during the search and rescue operations that followed.

When the vessel was recovered 9 days later, the deckhand’s body was discovered inside the wreckage; the pilot is Continue reading “Unsecured deck hatches led to sinking of Ricky Robinson”

Leaking lube oil causes engine room fire on towing vessel

The speed of which the fire grew to encompass the engine room and the location of primary fire equipment within that same space together eliminated the opportunity for the crew to effectively fight the fir
The speed of which the fire grew to encompass the engine room and the location of primary fire equipment within that same space together eliminated the opportunity for the crew to effectively fight the fire.

The NTSB issued an investigation report on the engine room fire and explosion onboard the towing vessel ‘J.W. Herron’ on Big Bayou Canot near Mobile, Alabama in December 2017. The report identified leaking lube oil from a propulsion diesel engine hose or tubing fitting that was ignited off an exposed hot engine surface, as the key cause of the accident.

About 1340 local time on 13 December 2017, the towing vessel J.W. Herron was shifting barges on Big Bayou Canot near Twelvemile Island, approximately 8 miles north of Mobile, Alabama, when a fire began in the lower engine room and quickly spread.

After the crew of three partially secured the engines and fuel supply, heavy smoke and fire prevented them from Continue reading “Leaking lube oil causes engine room fire on towing vessel”

Operation on high thermal load damages engine

High thermal engine - Photo for illustration purposes only.
Photo for illustration purposes only.

The Swedish Club has published some lessons learnt from a machinery failure. The six cylinder, medium speed type engine sustained serious damage serious damage and had to be renewed. Additionally, the turbo charger had to be overhauled.

The vessel in question was in ballast and at anchor, waiting for further instructions. After seven days the weather got worse and the ship’s anchor dragged. The anchor was heaved up and the vessel started to slow steam in the area.

After about a day, the differential pressure alarm of the main engine duplex lubrication oil filter sounded in the engine control room. The crew found aluminium and other metal inside the Continue reading “Operation on high thermal load damages engine”

Instagram Posts from the IIMS @iimsmarine

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

Show details
Performance & Marketing Cookies

This website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site, and the most popular pages. This also helps us optimise our marketing campaigns. User data sent to Google Analytics may be used for ad personalization and measurement of our ad campaigns. Keeping this cookie enabled helps us to improve our website.

Show details