How To Investigate A Maritime Incident

If you want to know how how maritime accidents are investigated, what they look for etc. then I’d recommend the Maritime Accident Investigator’s International Forum manuals, click here to go to the MAIIF page. The site itself doesn’t seem to be updated very often, not much by way of updates since 2005 but an interesting resource.

Miscellaneous Casualties

M/V DENDEN (Eritrea, 6977gt), Mangalore for Dubai, capsized in heavy seas less than one mile off the Mangalore, India -23-June-2007. Two seamen have died and 12 others were injured. It was reported that the chief engineer made error in switching from an auxiliary engine to the main engine that may have led to a breakdown a day before. The engineer may have switched engines before an optimum temperature had been reached and a subsequent failure forced the ship to anchor. The Ghanaian master is said to have refused assistance from the Indian Coast Guard on two occasions before high winds and strong waves led the ship to drift and list and the 24-crew abandoning ship.

M/T ALEXANDRA C (Panama, 10077dwt) had engine flooded in bad weather and sank about 120 miles off the Socotra I, Yemen, 20-June-2007. The crew (1 Georgian and eighteen Turkish) in a lifeboat have been rescued by passing M/V FAIRCHEM STEED. Alexandra C was loaded with 10,000 tons urea ammonium nitrate and was bound for the Far East from the Black Sea.

M/V TAHAROA EXPRESS (Panama, 74364gt, NYK), with iron sand cargo, listed at 20 degrees after the harsh weather conditions some 42 miles SW of Cape Edmont, New Zealand resulting in ship’s cargo to shift, 25-June-2007. The crew has succeeded in reducing the vessel’s list to 12 degrees, as pumps were flown in from shore to remove excess water from the vessel’s holds.

c.c. JIN SHENG (St.Vincent &G, 385teu)’s operators is facing prosecution from authorities in China over the incident in which the ship hit and sank M/V GOLDEN ROSE (S.Korea) last month that left 16 people dead. The investigation report states that following impact it left the scene of the incident without fulfilling their search and rescue obligations. The crew of Jin Sheng failed to promptly report the incident to a local maritime search and rescue coordinator. Both vessels were guilty of violating international regulations governing the prevention of collisions at sea with crew of Golden Rose blamed for failing to take evasive action once the two ships were on a collision course. Both vessels were traveling too fast and both misjudged the risk of a collision, the investigation found. It pointed to the failure of GMDSS onboard the Golden Rose to activate once the ship began to sink. 20-June-07

MSC ALEXA (Panama) was in collision with another vessel- one killed and six missing, 13-June-2007.

07.06.2007: Off Eritrean waters, Eritrea. Pirates attacked and fired upon an Egyptian fishing vessel underway and forced the vessel to stop. They hijacked the vessel to Eritrean regional waters and held 23 fishermen and sailors as hostages.

10.06.2007: 0522 LT: Posn 06:00.6S – 106:53.2E, Jakarta, tanker anchorage, Indonesia. A few fishing boats diverted the attention of the watch keepers while two robbers boarded a tanker at anchor using grappling hooks. The robbers stole two life rafts and escaped. Port authorities informed, however no action taken.

Oops

We’ve had some technical problems with The Case of the Silent Assassin, hopefully now sorted. An apology to those who failed to download the podcast. The transcript is now availale in the transcripts section.

Case No. 2 – The Case of the Silent Assassin

 

Ships are dangerous places for the badly trained, the unwary, the careless. In this case two seafarers were killed by almost nothing.

The Case of the Silent Assassin

Listen to the podcast here

Read The Illustrated Transcript

Get the official report

Bob’s Maritime Accident Casebook

Introduction

Sea transportation remains the most cost effective and environmentally friendly way of getting goods from one side of the world to the other, yet it comes with a cost – maritime incidents cost around $1 million a day.  Not all incidents are disasters, not all make headlines, but in nearly every case human factors present the most significant element in the incident.

The objective of the Maritime Accident Casebook is to explore in an accessible way how and why such incidents happen and how they can be avoided. I hope seafarers will find them interesting, entertaining and educational and those who have an interest in maritime incidents will gain a deeper insight into the challenges facing today’s maritime industry.

Each Case File consists of an audio podcast you can listen to at your leisure.  Edited, illustrated transcripts will be available on the Transcripts page of this blog with PDF versions for download together with links to official reports and other information of interest.

Except where otherwise indicated, the opinions expressed in the podcasts and on the transcripts are my own.

I hope you enjoy the case book.

Safe sailing.

Bob Couttie

Case No. 1: The Case of the Cozy Captain

An exhausted Captain; single watch-keeping; a warm, cozy bridge at night; the heavy traffic of the Kiel Canal, and pirated navigational software. If you think that sounds like a recipe for disaster, you’d be absolutely right.

The Case of the Cozy Captain

Listen to the podcast here
Read the transcript here
Read the Maritime Accident Investigation Branch report here.