Gt Bulk Carrier News

On Friday 14th November the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) detained a vessel in Liverpool. The Panamian flag 41,016 GT bulk carrier Pistis had berthed in Liverpool to discharge a cargo of grain and was boarded by surveyors from the MCAs Liverpool Marine Office, who arrived to conduct an overriding priority Inspection following information received from the UK Border Agency. The inspection of the Pistis revealed that the vessel had several deficiencies indicating a lack of proper maintenance of the ship and equipment…

The Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) detained 14 foreign ships were under detention in U.K. ports during August 2003 after failing port state control safety inspection. Latest monthly figures show that 4 foreign ships were detained in UK ports during August 2003 along with 10 other ships still under detention from previous months. The overall rate of detentions compared with inspections carried out over the last 12 months is 7.2% which is a decrease of 0.2% on the detention rate to July. Three out of the four vessels detained during the month were registered with flags targeted by the Paris MOU. • an Albanian registered, 1105 GT, general cargo ship for 4 days due to ISM DOC and SMC expired and nautical charts and publications out of date.

RINA, the Italian shipping standards body, which has taken enormous heat for passing as seaworthy the tanker Erika which broke up off France, has struck 22 ships off its books. "RINA has withdrawn class on 22 ships, totaling 394,100 gross tons (gt), during this year to the end of March," the ship classification society said. The purge was the result of internal checks set up after the loss last December of the 25-year-old tanker Erika which heavily polluted hundreds of French beaches. Ships were barred from classification where owners were unwilling or unable to reach high enough standards, RINA spokesman Gianfranco Damilano said. The disclassed ships included six oil tankers and two bulk carriers all over 25 years old, he said.