Early on 9 April 2016, the fishing vessel Louisa foundered, with the loss of three lives, while anchored close to the shore in Mingulay Bay in the Outer Hebrides.
The skipper and crew, who had been working long hours before anchoring late the previous evening, had woken suddenly as the vessel was sinking rapidly by the bow. They were able to escape to the aft deck, activate the emergency position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB), and to don lifejackets. However, they were unable to inflate the liferaft as they abandoned the vessel.
The UK’s Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) is modernising the way the UK Ship Register operates with a number of new initiatives being rolled out as the Agency is also addressing the issue of lack of surveyors on its books.
At the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Maritime and Ports, attendees were informed that the MCA is considering increasing the fee structure for the UK Ship Register to above 2016 levels.
The registry is working to improve the response time for enquiries to one working day, while for complex issues it will take three working days. Increasing ship registry fees would match the higher levels of service being offered, the MCA said. The register also plans to roll out a package fee option in April 2018. Further, a new online ship registry service is expected to be completed by Christmas this year. Continue reading “Lack of surveyors at UK MCA highlighted as a programme of modernisation gets underway”
A purpose designed 14m catamaran will allow Teignbridge Propellers to test propeller efficiency
Teignbridge Propellers received a £3m grant to research propeller efficiency last year with much of the work to be carried out from a new vessel due to be launched later this summer.
The grant to Teignbridge Propellers from the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) comprised 50% from industry finance and 50% from the UK Government and will enable the company to look for energy and CO2 savings of 8% in the UK’s heavy-duty vessel fleet.
Testing of a range of propellers for various vessels is due to begin in the Autumn. And while initially this will be for ships, the efficiencies will inevitably filter down to the pleasure industry says Teignbridge Propellers MD Mark Phare.
Sam Newington, the man who built Fairline into one of Britain’s leading boat manufacturers, has died peacefully at home aged 82. The family’s involvement with the marine industry began in 1964 when Sam’s father Jack Newington converted a gravel pit in Oundle, digging a trench to link it to the River Nene. Oundle Marina was created, the basis for a small inland waterways and marina business that hired and repaired boats. It was originally something of a hobby alongside the family’s main business of frozen foods. In 1966 Jack bought a mould for a 19ft glass fibre boat from a failing company. That boat became the Fairline 19 and Fairline was born.
Summary of the incident
At 1135 on 15 May 2016, the passenger vessel Surprise suffered hull damage and started flooding when it grounded at Western Rocks, Isles of Scilly. All 48 passengers were safely evacuated to shore. The flooding was contained by the passenger vessel Surprise, own bilge pumps and it returned to harbour under its own power.
River Canal Rescue says it has noticed an increase in callouts to broken canal boats
Boats on the canals are suffering more often from engine, fuel, electrical and other problems, judging from the number of callouts responded to by waterways breakdown specialists River Canal Rescue.
It’s quite normal for River Canal Rescue to notice a rise in callouts to broken-down boats in the spring, as many leisure boaters make their first trip of the year and discover any problems which have developed over the winter months. But for the last couple of years, the spike has been getting higher – as has the overall total number of callouts. In 2015 it hit 140 calls a week at the peak; last year it crept up a shade to 144 per week, but this year with 100 more breakdowns than 2016 in April alone, the figure looks set to top that by a long way.
At approximately 0500 on 16 August 2016, a fire started in the crew mess room of the fishing vessel Ardent II while alongside in Peterhead. The three crew sleeping on board escaped without injury but the vessel was extensively damaged and later declared a constructive total loss.
The MAIB investigation identified that:
– An electrical fault or failure of a multi-socket adapter in the crew mess was the most likely cause of the fire
– There was no smoke detector fitted in the crew mess room and it was fortunate one of the crew awoke and discovered the fire
Between 7 and 9 June 2016, the two occupants of the motor cruiser Love for Lydia died from carbon monoxide poisoning. The boat was moored alongside Wroxham Island, River Bure, Norfolk, and their bodies were found during the afternoon of 9 June in the boat’s forepeak cabin.
REMBRANDT simulator will aid the MAIB in future investigations
BMT Ship & Coastal Dynamics (BMT), a subsidiary of BMT Group Ltd, has announced a new contract with the UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB), acknowledged as a world leader in ship electronic evidence gathering, including VDR data recovery and interpretation. BMT has installed its industry leading marine navigation and manoeuvring REMBRANDT simulator and will provide ongoing specialised training, to allow MAIB personnel to benefit from its unique attributes.
Richard North, Technical Manager at MAIB comments: “REMBRANDT simulator is a well-regarded and trusted solution, widely used by a broad spectrum of stakeholders including pilot organisations, shipping companies on-board and ashore, naval architects, civil marine engineers and port authorities, therefore it was a natural choice for us. A key and unique attribute of REMBRANDT is its ability to automatically input a broad range of VDR data including 3D, Radar and bridge audio to deliver a more enhanced and accurate visual Continue reading “MAIB contracts with BMT Ship & Coastal Dynamics for their REMBRANDT simulator”
The Canal & River Trust kicks off ‘Boats in Bloom’ Awards. (Photo from Gardeners’ World Live 2016)
‘It’s blooming marvellous on the waterways’ is the theme by the Canal & River Trust about the green fingered boaters and waterside gardeners in the UK. The charity is launching its first-ever ‘Boats in Bloom’ awards to say thank you to the many people who bring the waterways in Britain to life with plants and flowers.
Starting in May, the Canal & River Trust will be presenting colourful certificates to anyone whose boat or waterside planting is putting a smile on the face of passers-by. The charity is also calling on people to share photos of blossoming boats and waterways to create an online gallery to inspire and delight others.
Surveyors take note – overplating does not constitute a repair on a steel hull
Feature article written by Alan Broomfield MIIMS, who tackles the thorny subject of overplating on steel hulled vessels, in particular Dutch barges and Narrowboats.
It is common practice when in the field surveying steel vessels to find mild steel plates welded to the hull, a practice regularly carried out on leisure vessels as a permanent repair. If any defects are found on the shell of a metal boat during a survey, surveyors are all too quick to recommend that the area concerned be overplated. Marine surveyors who deal with steel vessels will find that very often – Dutch barges and canal boats in particular – are frequently heavily overplated and should remember at all times that such overplating does NOT constitute a repair. It merely hides the defect.
Flying deliberately under the media radar over the past decade, and in the meantime developing a giant 9MW wave energy cost effective device, American wave energy company GWave has recently lifted the lid on its well-kept secret by announcing the plans to deploy a full-scale device at the Wave Hub test center in Cornwall, UK.
Tidal Energy Today has talked to GWave’s Chief Executive Officer, Robert Stoddard, to learn more about this ‘dark horse’ of wave energy cost effective generation whose nameplate capacity of 9MW is larger than that of the biggest offshore wind turbine currently available on the market.
