Maritime Safety News Today – 31st January 2008

Two Chinese cargo ships collide, at least 15 dead
Reuters – USA
Rescue operations are continuing and an investigation into the cause of the accident has begun, said the news agency. (Reporting by Kirby Chien)

At least 100 feared dead in Congo boat accident
Earthtimes – London,UK
It was unclear what caused the accident but a Congolese maritime official told the BBC all passengers were thought to be dead. 

Coast Guard Responds to Cargo Ship Aground

Posted 01/30/08 at 09:57 AM

The Coast Guard responded to a cargo ship that ran aground in the Chesapeake Bay. The Mediterranean Shipping Company vessel Japan, a 796-ft. Panamanian flagged cargo ship, ran aground near Sandy Point Light approximately one mile north of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge…

Council proposes Napoli inquiry
BBC News – UK
The grounding of the MSC Napoli in Lyme Bay is to be subject to a local inquiry held by Devon County Council. The MSC Napoli was beached in Lyme Bay last

Weekly Piracy Report

Weekly Piracy Report 22-28 January 2008 The following is a summary of the daily reports broadcast by the IMB’s Piracy Reporting Centre to ships in Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean Regions on the SafetyNET service of Inmarsat-C from 22 to 28 January 2008. ALERT Chittagong anchorage, Bangladesh The number of attacks has reduced since 2006. However, the area is still listed as a high risk area and mariners are advised to be cautious especially while approaching the anchorage and while at anchor at Chittagong Nigeria Violent attacks carried out by pirates on board vessels at anchor and vessel carrying out STS operations. Mariners are advised to exercise extreme caution in these waters. Suspicious crafts Recently reported incidents 23.01.2008: 0620 LT: 08:46.2S-013:16.4E: Luanda inner anchorage, Angola. Robbers boarded a general cargo ship, broke open forward paint locker, and stole ship’s stores unnoticed.  Ship searched no robbers found.  No injuries to crew. Authorities notified. 18.01.2008: 0353 LT: 3nm off Lagos, Nigeria. Robbers boarded a tanker during STS cargo operations, stole ship’s store and escaped.  No injuries to crew.

Welcome Ami

With this new series of MAC episodes I’d like to introduce a new voice, Ami Jacinto, a well experienced voice talent in the Philippines who’ll be helping develop the Tagalog version of the podcasts.

The Case Of The Unfamiliar Mariner Part Two

Part 2 of The Case Of The Unfamiliar Mariner, the first episode in our second series of Maritime Accident Casebooks is now on line here.

We have also done a small re-edit of Part 1.

Maritime Safety News Today – 30th January 2008

Language Barrier Caused Coast Guard To Underestimate SF Bay Oil Spill
AHN – USA
… crew and inexperience in assessing the accident prompted them to initially estimate the oil spill from the m/v Cosco Busan at 140 gallons. 

Royal Navy finds sunken wreck of ms EXPLORER
Shipping Times – UK
The seabed in the search area was flat and featureless, but a contact was detected at a range of 4373m from the reported sinking position of the vessel.

Data on sunken ferry held back
Vancouver Sun – British Columbia, Canada
BC Ferries has lost an appeal against a BC Supreme Court ruling that prevents the company from publishing a further report on the sinking of the ferry Queen 

ISU Conference to Include Casualty Simulation

Posted 01/29/08 at 10:41 AM

The significance of Lloyd’s Form (LOF), will provide the focus for the International Salvage Union’s Associate Members’ Day conference in London on April 2. This theme was chosen as 2008 is LOF’s centenary year…

Pilot/VTS assisted Collision – Too Many Gentlemen On The Bridge

The UK’s Maritime Accident Investigation Branch has released its full report on the collision between the Audacity and the Leonis in the approaches to the River Humber in April 2007. There was a pilot aboard the Audacity and there was a VTS in operation.  It’s well worth a read.

Among the observations were: ” Effectively, no-one held the con on the bridge of Audacity because both the master and pilot had deferred to the other, there was no discussion or questioning of the intentions of Leonis, and at a critical time they involved themselves with tasks that were inappropriate given the impending close quarters situation.”

Polite deference may be a virtue, but not necessarily in bad visibility.

Also worrying is: “The bridge on Audacity was insufficiently manned in the circumstances and conditions. It did not comply with company requirements or HES instructions to pilots, however no additional resources were requested by the pilot.”

VTS operators made similar errors to the ones made by ships bridge teams that consistently appear in reports on incidents involving vessels with a pilot aboard: “VTS operators did not consider they were able to give advice and guidance to vessels with pilots on board. It was considered that the pilot would know what he was doing and that the operator did not need to be further involved once a pilot was on board.”

Pilots are, indeed, highly trained and extremely knowledgeable but not infallible.

As the American P&I Club video, Stranger On The Bridge advises, “Be more alert, not less, when there is a pilot aboard”.

Maritime Safety News – 28 January 2008

Fatal ferry organizer on the run
Shanghai Daily – Shanghai,China
By Dong Zhen 2008-1-25 A MAN who arranged an illegal ferry ride on January 11 that left 10 dead and one still missing after a collision at sea, 

Report on ‘07 sinking urges stricter boat regulations
Boston Globe – United States
A fishing boat with four crewmembers probably sank in Nantucket Sound last year because a build-up of ice added so much weight that it caused the ship to 

Total Appeals Verdict in Oil Spill Trial
Forbes – NY,USA
It had an impact across Europe: a year after the sinking, the European Union agreed on tighter controls on maritime safety, notably the phasing out of 

Philippines to Ban Single-Hull Vessels

Posted 01/28/08 at 10:35 AM

The Philippines will ban single-hull oil tankers from its waters from April, two years earlier than planned, after the worst oil spill in the country’s history and a separate leak in South Korea. Vessels carrying “black” petroleum products such as crude oil and bunker fuel won’t be allowed to dock at ports from April 1 without a double hull, said.

Tanker Owner in Spill Denies Wrongdoing

Posted 01/25/08 at 10:39 AM

According to reports, the owner and operators of the tanker involved in South Korea’s worst oil spill denied any wrongdoing, but offered sympathy to locals affected by the environmental fallout and their insurer agreed to accept claims for compensation.

HEBEI SPIRIT TRIAL BEGINS
Maritime Global Net – Warren,RI,USA
THE trial in South Korea of five men accused of negligence and violating anti-pollution laws in connection with the Hebei Spirit collision and spill in 

$550000 fine levied for sunken tour boat
Maui News – Wailuku,HI,USA
“But some of their actions after the sinking reflected poor judgment and bad decision-making. There was damage to a protected conservation area.

Where’s The World’s Biggest Bottle Of Tequila

Denis Bryant of Holland + Knight sent us a link to a US Coast Guard video of the Orange Sun clobbering the dredge New York in Newark Bay:

Collision Video 

There’s a release on subsequent operations here.

All we need now is a tanker full of Tequila and a shipment of Grenadine syrup and we’ll have the world’s biggest Tequila Sunrise.

Maritime Safety News Today – 26 January 2008

Titas pipeline on blaze after hit by trawler
The Daily Star – Dhaka,Bangladesh
“Soon after the propeller of the vessel hit the pipeline with a bang, a huge swirl was created in the river and we thought our boat was sinking,” said 

Crippled ship is rescued
Melbourne Herald Sun – Australia
“She was en-route from New Zealand to India to be scrapped when she broke down and Maritime Safety Authorities asked us to take her in tow,” Capt .

OJ Freighter Hits Ship in NJ
The Associated Press –
The vessel was later stabilized and in no danger of sinking, though the extent of the damage was not immediately clear. The Orange Sun was on its way to a

Coast Guard assists sinking tugboat’s crew
Peninsula Daily – Port Angeles,WA,USA
The crew put on survival suits and got into the water as the vessel was sinking. A fishing vessel, the Kilchis, picked up the crew, and took them to a 

3 men rescued from sinking fishing boat
KING5.com – Seattle,WA,USA
AP SEATTLE – The Coast Guard says it has rescued three men from a fishing vessel that was taking on water after hitting a jetty at the exit to Grays Harbor

Dragger sinks near Trenton
Ellsworth American – Ellsworth,ME,USA
The Department of Marine Resources Marine Patrol and the United States Coast Guard (USCG) responded to the sinking. The vessel reportedly was attached to .

Trial opens over SKorea’s worst oil spill
AFP –
The accident happened after a line connecting one of two tugboats to the barge snapped, leaving the barge drifting uncontrollably towards the Hebei Spirit .

Hong Kong Tanker Owners Protest South Korean Indictment of Crew in …
Voice of America – USA
Last December, the Hebei Spirit, a Hong Kong-registered tanker, was at anchor off the west coast of South Korea. A drifting South Korean crane barge, 

KIRIBATI MAN DETAINED IN CHINA
Niu FM – Auckland,New Zealand
Auckland 8am: A maritime recruitment agancy says very little is known about a Kiribati seafarer being detained in China for drug smuggling – so the

Lawyers Plan to Meet Today Over Cosco Busan Oil Spill
KCBS – CA,USA
Friday, lawyers are supposed to discuss whether the process is on course for an April 28 hearing into the Cosco Busan’s collision with the Bay Bridge, 

Unions discuss FOC shipping with Irish ministers
Shipping Times – UK
They explained how crucial this was in light of the number of seafarers who disappear without a trace – some 1500 annually. Requests for assistance were 

53 ships docked without safety norms, SC told
Times of India – India
Since the September order, the nodal Gujarat Maritime Board has not given permission for ship-breaking because no shipbreaker has provided the requisite

Fire – Don’t pump up the water, pump up the volume

Water is best kept under the hull in most situation but when fire strikes it becomes the best way to douse the flames even if it can burn (Check out The Case Of The Tongues Of Fire), but it leaves an aweful mess afterwards. Rummaging around the internet produced an alternative: sing to it.

Don’t take my word for it, check out Scientific American’s item on musical fire-extinguishing.

Students managed to put out a fire, or at least a candle flame, by playing Nickelback’s “How you remind me” very loudly. It’s a Canadian Band so there’s probably some Jones Act prohibition that applies.

Be that as it may, prehaps this could have a major impact on firefighting on ships of the future.  I suspect the vessels with a predominantly Filipino crew might get an insurance premium discount, or SOLAS might include a mandatory karaoke.