MCA Detains 14 Foreign Ships in June

The Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) announced that 14 foreign ships were under detention in UK ports during June 2002 after failing port state control safety inspection. Latest monthly figures show that nine foreign ships were detained in UK ports during June 2002 along with five other ships still under detention from previous months. The overall rate of detentions compared with inspections carried out over the last 12 months is 6.3 which is a decrease of 0.1% on the 12 month rate to May. The ships detained included a Norwegian flagged general cargo vessel detained at Seaham. While the crew had just completed a drill the Surveyor noticed when he arrived that the embarkation ladder was some 4 meters short. He also found that the emergency fire pump would not pump when the vessel was in the ballast condition. It was reported to him that the vessel had always operated with these defects and although the problems were known no attempts had been made to rectify them. There were also no charts for the area on board which could be particularly hazardous given Seaham Harbour’s narrow entrance and rocky approach. This vessel was to have left for Norway to complete the work for its ISM certificate. A Romanian flagged RoRo cargo vessel was also detained. Once again the crew seemed prepared to accept obvious defects with watertight doors being defective and the necessary maintenance not carried out, and lifejacket lights not working. The vessel was inspected prior to the ISM code applying. However, the apparent lack of safety culture on board was confirmed when the vessel was subsequently detained in Dunkerque for major non-conformities in its safety management system despite having been recently issued with full ISM certificates.