Ship Casualty News

State-owned Bangladesh Shipping Corp is seeking $22.4 million from its insurer for a cargo ship hit by a missile in March, government officials with knowledge of the talks said, in the first major marine insurance claim from the conflict in Ukraine.The UN's shipping agency said last week it would create a safe maritime corridor for merchant ships and crews stuck in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, although shipping industry sources expect progress to be slow. Projectiles have hit four other vessels in recent days with one sunk.Insurance premiums have soared by over 100% for voyages to the region since the war started. Insurers are watching…

PRESS RELEASE --  Classification society ClassNK (Chairman and President: Noboru Ueda) announced that it released amendments to its Rules and Guidance for the Survey and Construction of Steel Ships on 25 December 2015, including structural strength requirements of container carriers. In response to a large container ship casualty in June 2013, ClassNK established The Investigative Panel on Large Container Ship Safety, which comprised of shipbuilders, shipping companies, and people with relevant knowledge and experience, to investigate the possibility of casualty occurrence and the structural safety of large container carriers. The results…

Van Heck revealed its newest world premiere, a complete pump system that enables the controlled, contained, fast oil recovery after incorrect or off-spec fueling and in the event of grounding or calamity at sea. The pump, named Sea Trophy, ensures a fast, easy and well controlled solution for the removal of oil which will limit, or even eliminate any or all economic and environmental damages, not to mention the possible depredation of company image. Van Heck’s Sea Trophy underlines the motto “intervene…

Resolve Fire and Salvage signed an agreement with Fire Department New York (FDNY) last week, allowing the vast resources of the FDNY to be included in Resolve’s network of first responders that are available to vessel owners and operators, under the OPA90 Salvage & Marine Firefighting (SMFF) requirements. “FDNY has an excellent marine division that already responds first to marine incidents. This agreement simply formalizes FDNY’s role in the Vessel Response Plan (VRP), as a fellow marine firefighting responder, under the OPA90 SMFF regulations.

There is still no permission for MSC FLAMINIA to enter a sheltered area or a subsequent emergency port says the ship manager's update. Reederei NSB and the salvage company both remain in contact with all littoral states to acquire this permission. At the same time, MSC FLAMINIA and its accompanying group of tugs have taken a position over 400 nautical miles west of the entrance of The English Channel to avoid bad weather and the expected swell. Since the coming days are projected to bring deteriorating weather conditions, the group has set a northwesterly course to an area where less swell is expected. Its speed is 4.5 knots. A significant impairment of the stability of MSC FLAMINIA due the expected wave height cannot be excluded and is observed apprehensively.

Bad weather, a still smouldering hold, cause the tow to pull back out of the 200-mile zone. The team of firefighting experts is unable to go onboard MSC FLAMINIA due to bad weather conditions, and In the coming days a further deterioration of the weather is predicted. Therefore, MSC FLAMINIA and the group of tugboats have pulled out of the 200 mile zone and maintain a position approximately 200 miles off the British coast.
 According to the salvage team on site the fire in cargo holds 4, 5 and 6 has been extinguished. However, smoke is visible above cargo hold 7 and the temperatures in this area are rising. The stricken container ship is still listing by 10 degrees.

 A decision to enter a sheltered coastal area has not yet been made but is expected in soon.

The Nautical Institute and the International Salvage Union (ISU) have launched 'Casualty Management Guidelines', a book aimed at providing practical guidelines to help seafarers during a casualty, when demands can be confusing, contradictory, unclear or a combination of all three. In the book masters and crew members are told what to expect from people or organisations that might be involved as the casualty unfolds. Chapters are presented, describing how masters should expect to deal with different people, from owners to government officials, insurance representatives and salvage experts. It will give all involved an idea of the job each may be undertaking, together with priorities and responsibilities.

An oil belt floating off the coast of southeast China's Fujian province has been mostly cleaned up from the Singapore-registered ship, Barelie which struck a nearby reef recently, local maritime authorities said. About five cubic meters of heavy oil and four tonnes of wastewater have been salvaged from the spill so far, with no new spills detected, according to the Fujian Maritime Rescue Center. Rescuers have unloaded 216 shipping containers from the ship, finding no dangerous goods inside, the center said, adding that container unloading and pollution control efforts are still under way. The Singapore-registered Bareli is aground near Jiangyin Port while on route from the city of Ningbo to the provincial capital of Fuzhou. All 21 of the ship's crew members have been rescued.

JMS is proud to announce new features added to our popular iPhone application based on the U.S. Navy Salvor’s Handbook. Past customers f the original app will receive the update for free. •    An in-app ”Calculator” has been added to the application called “Estimate Bollard Pull”. The app now allows you to perform this calculation (as found in the Salvor’s Handbook on page 4-9) directly within the app! •    This is a Universal app that is now optimized for both the iPhone4 and iPad2. Most notably, the resolution on the iPad is greatly improved.

By Richard B. A riddle: How many years, and how many Administrations does it take for an esteemed U.S. government agency to publish regulations that have likely already been written? The answer is 13 years and five Admirals. Thirteen surely is an unlucky number for the professional marine salvage industry in the United States, for it has, indeed, taken this many years for the United States Coast Guard to publish its proposed salvage regulations (to amend 33 CFR Part 155, Salvage & Marine Firefighting Requirements), which, after all this time, have once again been postponed for three more years. The future of these proposed regulations is as difficult to predict as the weather. The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 was the legislative response to a major shipping casualty within our borders.

The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) issued the report of the multi-agency investigation of the collision between the Arctic Ocean and the Maritime Lady, the capsize of the Maritime Lady, contact with the wreck by the Sunny Blossom, and the subsequent grounding of the Sunny Blossom in the Elbe River on 5 December 2005 [and that’s just the title]. The investigation may be most memorable, though, for its discussion of the unwillingness of two principal witnesses (the master of the Maritime Lady and the nautical supervisor of VTS Brunsbüttel) to share their recollections with the investigators. The “American disease” seems to be spreading. Source: HK Law

A 10-point plan for more effective ship casualty response has been put forward by the International Salvage Union (ISU). The plan includes a proposal for an advanced EU “Casualty Response Database”, capable of real-time tracking of large salvage tugs and other key salvage assets. Speaking at the Barcelona Shipping Law Forum today, ISU President Joop Timmermans said: “Some of these measures can be put into place very quickly. Others are for the longer term. All 10, however, would make a useful contribution to improved casualty response. · Measure 1: EU adoption of the UK Command and Control model, based around a Ministerial Representative (the “SOSREP” in the UK).

Compania Naviera Minera del Golfo SA de CV (Navimin) of Mexico has won the Standard Ship Emergency Exercise Award from Lloyd's Register (LR). The award was made to Mr. Javier Villegas-Serralta, general director of Navimin, at a presentation held in Mexico City. The presentation was made by John Stansfeld, LR's group regional manager for the Americas, on behalf of Dr. David Aldwinckle, manager of LR's Ship Emergency Response Service (SERS). The award is given by SERS in recognition of an outstanding commitment to staging Standard Ship Emergency Exercises (SSEEs). During 1998, Navimin held three exercises, involving different scenarios, on each of their chemical tankers.

Bulk shipping has been under the international microscope of late, with spectacular structural failures resulting in sudden loss of lives and ships, vexing designers, builders and owners alike as to the solution to structural and operational problems. Last week industry experts discussed another matter near and dear to bulk shipper's hearts, the future profitability of the depressed bulk shipping business. The overriding message: bulk shipping profitability is inextricably linked to safety and environmental controls. Removing poor quality operators through strict enforcement of international regulations could reduce the capacity oversupply that has caused low freight rates in the tanker and bulk shipping sectors, they said at a London Conference organized by the City University.