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Port Of Refuge News

09 Dec 2020

Top Maritime Trends of 2020: Tackling the Scourge of Containership Fires

“One troubling statistic is that on average there is a fire onboard a container ship every week, with a major container fire occurring on average every 60 days.” (Photo: Indian Coast Guard)

The proliferation of serious fires onboard container ships in recent years has shocked the shipping industry. Here we examine the causes and impact of such fires and the urgent efforts being made by a wide variety of stakeholders to solve this seemingly intractable problem.Over the last decade there has been a 70% fall in ship total losses[1]. This has been widely credited to long term improvements in ship safety management and loss prevention programs. Counter to this trend, there has been a substantial increase in the number of fires in containers carried onboard container and RoRo ships.

22 Oct 2020

Tech to Fight Container Fires

Photo: Survitec

Fire safety has become a major concern in the container shipping industry, in particular, with vessels of 20,000-TEU and more entering the market. A fire in just one container can have catastrophic implications for the whole of the cargo. The very nature of container shipping means that the cargoes are in general finished goods of high value. Insurer Allianz gives the example of a March 2018 fire onboard the Maersk Honam southeast of Oman. At the time the ship was carrying 7,860 containers, corresponding to 12,416 TEU.

17 Jan 2019

Yantian Express: The Fire Primarily Contained

The fire has been primarily contained. Three salvage tugs are currently providing assistance to Yantian Express, which suffered a cargo fire on 3 January in the Atlantic.Another ocean-going tug is also on its way to further assist the operations, said a press release from Ocean Network Express (ONE). The Hapag-Lloyd containership is alliance partner of ONE."Unfortunately, we are unable to provide you the possible port of refuge and estimated time of arrival at this moment. Details will be advised once the information has been determined," an advisory to customers said."At this time, it is not possible to make a precise estimate of any damage to Yantian Express or its cargo.

20 Nov 2017

MacDuff Ship Design Reports Busy Autumn

(Image: MacDuff Ship Design)

Scotland based MacDuff Ship Design reports it has had another busy summer and autumn with the delivery of a number of new vessels, work continuing on existing contracts and several new design contracts won. Alongside this has seen the continuation of the companies bureau work in naval architectural consultancy and the steady expansion of MacDuff Marine Surveyors. A new 25.5m Aquaculture Support Vessel has entered service on the West Coast of Scotland having been delivered in September 2017 to owners Inverlussa Marine Services.

02 Aug 2017

Oil Spill Response: SCOPE 2017

(Image: SCOPE)

Later this year a major oil and chemical protection exercise dubbed SCOPE 2017 will be carried out in Norway. A joint project including major European and Scandinavian stakeholders, the simulated response to a combined oil and chemical spill aims to foster clearer communication and coordination of spill response across agencies and physical country boundaries. Stig Wahlstrøm, Project Manager SCOPE 2017, Norwegian Coastal Administration and Johan Marius Ly, Director, Department for Emergency Response, explain.

27 May 2016

IACS Recommendations for Emergency Response

Following a further round of discussions on 'Places of Refuge' at the IMO last week, prompted by a submission from the EU Member States, the European Commission, shipowners and the maritime insurance industry, IACS today published recommendations addressing the minimum support services for vessels in need of operational technical support, including vessels in need of a Port of Refuge. These recommendations will be of value to all shipowners, operators and managers when choosing an emergency response service provider by clearly establishing the minimum level of support the service provider can be expected to deliver. By choosing a service provider that meets all the IACS recommendations…

10 May 2016

IUMI Welcomes Revised York-Antwerp Rules

In general, the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) welcomes the revised York-Antwerp Rules (YAR 2016) which were adopted by the Comité Maritime International (CMI) at its conference in New York last week. The York-Antwerp Rules (YAR) is a set of rules by which General Average (GA) is adjusted (see detailed explanation in the notes below). IUMI has a particular interest in their content as, on average, the GA system increases the cost of maritime casualties by between 10%-30% largely due to interest (7% p.a. under the 1994 and 1974 YAR), commission (2%) on nearly all expenses and sacrifices, and adjusters' fees. The process of collecting GA security from all the cargo interests…

23 Jun 2014

Interview: John Witte - VP, International Salvage Union

John Witte

Working full-time with Donjon Marine Co., Inc. since 1982, John A. Witte, Jr. is currently Executive Vice President. He oversees the day-to-day operations of Donjon’s Marine Salvage, Demolition, Marine Transportation, Diving, Heavy Lift and Shipbuilding Operations. Witte is also responsible for Donjon’s Regulatory Compliance Program for all marine related activities and has served as Salvage Master on numerous Donjon Salvage projects since 1982. A past President of the American Salvage Association (ASA), Witte today serves as Vice President of the International Salvage Union (ISU).

29 May 2014

Liberia Wraps up Kerala Hijacking Investigation

The Liberian Registry has concluded its investigation into the pirate-hijacking of the product tanker Kerala off Luanda, Angola, on January 18, 2014. The Liberian investigation is based on evidence gathered by an INTERPOL-led multinational Incident Response Team as well as findings of its own investigative efforts. The Liberian Administration is currently in the process of publishing its report into the hijacking of the Liberian-flagged vessel. Liberia requested the attendance of the INTERPOL Incident Response Team in Tema…

18 Feb 2014

LR Warns: Ship In Danger to Break Apart

Fifty days on, the maximum bending moment for the chemical carrier Maritime Maisie exceeds estimated damage strength limits. Lloyd’s Register’s Ship Emergency Response Service (SERS) has been working with the shipmanagers of Maritime Maisie, Singapore based, MSI Shipmanagement, to develop a plan to best manage the casualty and help ensure the ship can be taken to a secure anchorage where the remaining cargo can be transferred safely. Maritime Maisie was opened to the sea well…

15 Oct 2020

Fire-Damaged Tankship Denied Asian Pacific Port of Refuge

A fire-damaged tankship, 'Maritime Maisie' loaded with hazardous chemicals has become a maritime football in the north Pacific, with Japan and South Korea unwilling to give it refuge even though they risk a wider environmental disaster if it sinks, reports Reuters.The 44,000 dwt tanker, collided with another ship 9 nautical miles off Busan, South Korea, on December 29, 2013, Ying Jinghua, fleet director of MSI Ship Management, which manages the tanker's day-to-day operation informed Reuters. The accident caused a fire when a cargo tank holding the chemical acrylonitrile ruptured. The ship, owned by Aurora Tankers, part of Singapore's IMC Group…

06 Feb 2014

Liberian Investigation Affirms Tanker Hijacking

Kerala (Photo: Greek World Reporter)

Liberia continues its active investigation of the hijacking of the Liberian-flagged product tanker, Kerala, (IMO No.: 9390927), at Luanda, Angola on January 18, 2014, and although the investigation is still ongoing, the evidence gathered thus far by the INTERPOL Incident Response Team has allowed the Liberian Registry to conclude that the vessel was hijacked by pirates. Liberia, in cooperation with the vessel owners, requested the attendance in Tema, Ghana, of an INTERPOL-led multinational Incident Response Team.

11 Dec 2013

Hijacked Vessel Nears Return to Service

Free Goddess (Photo: Reuters)

FreeSeas Inc., a transporter of dry-bulk cargos through the ownership and operation of a fleet of Handysize and Handymax vessels, announced that it has entered into terms with the insurers of M/V Free Goddess pursuant to which the sum of $1.1 million will be paid by the insurers to the company. The amount of $700,000 has already been disbursed in favor of the company pursuant to the terms agreed. In 2012, the M/V Free Goddess was hijacked by pirates from February to October and has been under repair at her port of refuge since being release.

28 May 2013

Cruise Ship Superstructure Fire Extinguised by Crew

RCI CEO Inspects the Damage: Photo credit RCI

Royal Caribbean International announce cancellation of the vessel's next cruise to allow for damage repair in the port of refuge, Freeport, Bahamas. At approximately 3 a.m., Monday, Coast Guard Sector Miami received a report of a fire aboard the Bahamian-flagged cruise ship Grandeur of the Seas carrying 2,224 passengers and 796 crew en route to CoCoCay, Bahamas. The fire began on the third deck of the aft mooring area of the ship and spread to the fourth deck crew lounge area.

17 Apr 2013

Key Salvage Issues for 2013 – and Beyond…

This is a good time to look aft and reflect on the accomplishments achieved in 2012, as well as to the distant horizon to see what challenges loom in 2013, and beyond. It is fair to say that the Coast Guard and salvage industry have come a long way in the last few years with implementation of a salvage and firefighting final rule; first published in December 2008, delayed until February 22, 2011, to provide for harmonization with the changes to the vessel and facility amendments for response plans.

12 Feb 2013

Places of Refuge

The concept of force majeure has been broadly accepted since mariners initially encountered the perils of the sea. Persons and governments ashore have been obligated, at least by natural law, to accept and succor those in distress at sea. Concomitant with force majeure is the notion of providing a ship in distress with a place or port of refuge. A place of refuge is where a ship could go to avoid or ameliorate the peril and then depart at the earliest opportunity. While the original need for force majeure and a place of refuge was to reduce the risk to the lives of those on board the ship…

27 Sep 2012

ASRY Invests in Future

Bahrain’s Arab Shipbuilding & Repair Yard (ASRY) has come a long way since starting operations towards the end of 1977, as the Arabian Gulf’s first VLCC repair yard. Today ASRY is involved in the repair of all types of commercial vessels, naval craft and offshore jack-up rigs. It also has an expanding newbuilding division which has built specialist barges as well as completing four new tugs for its own use. In a further diversification, ASRY has established two new divisions, ASRY Energy which is building Power Barges (floating electricity generating stations)…

10 Aug 2012

Port of Refuge Still Denied MSC Flaminia

Ship operator's latest report says fire remains under control although hotspots still exist. The ship's geographical situation remains unchanged, some 200 miles off the nearest land. Without such a permission, which can only be given by European coastal states, the salvage of the vessel is not possible and the success of the operation is compromised. Currently, intense negotiations are being conducted with all littoral states. The ship managers also remains in constant contact with German authorities in order to make use of all possibilities for continuing the salvage operation. Thanks to stable weather conditions, salvage and firefighting operations can be continued. The vessel is listing by 10 degrees.

25 Aug 2003

What Should be the Role of Class?

The role of vessel classification societies continues to change dramatically. As the role and relevance of class is hotly debated, MR/EN picked the brains of the industry's major classification societies to analyze both their individual and collective future. If class is to remain relevant, it must remake itself for the modern world, says ABS president and CEO Robert D. Somerville. He recently told delegates to the World Maritime Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia that "self regulation will continue to provide an effective method for establishing and enforcing standards only if all elements of the industry recognize that substantive overhaul is needed." Somerville highlighted the remarkable…

12 May 2004

Legal: Misplacing the Place of Refuge

On December 30, 2000, the tanker Castor was underway in the western Mediterranean Sea en route from Constanza, Romania to Lagos, Nigeria, carrying 29,470 tons of unleaded gasoline. During a fierce winter storm, the ship developed a 22-m long crack across its main deck between frames 72 and 73, approximately midway along its 183.5 m length. For the next 24 days, the tanker fruitlessly sought permission to enter sheltered coastal waters of nations littoral to the Mediterranean. Its requests were rebuffed successively by Morocco, Spain, Gibraltar, Algeria, Tunisia, France, Italy, Malta, and Greece. Finally, on January 22, 2001, the cargo remaining on board was successfully lightered during a high seas transfer in international waters near Malta.

08 Jan 2001

IMO Calls For Ship Safe Haven Measure

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) called on Monday for measures to ensure refuge for troubled ships like the Greek tanker Castor, which was last week turned away from three countries it went to for assistance, Reuters reported. "The time has come for the organization ... to adopt any measures required to ensure tha t... coastal states review their contingency arrangements so that disabled ships are provided with assistance," Secretary General Bill O'Neil told an IMO committee meeting in London. O'Neil said he was referring specifically to the case of the Castor, which developed a 20-m crack in its deck on New Year's Day and has since been unsuccessfully seeking a sheltered port in which to unload its 29,500 ton cargo of gasoline.

10 Jan 2001

ABS Steps Up Castor Response

ABS, the classification society of record for the damaged product tanker Castor, has stepped up its assistance efforts in response to the continuing failure of any nation to offer the vessel a port of refuge. "It has been 10 days since this ship arrived at a port seeking refuge," ABS President Robert D. Somerville noted. "If that refuge had been granted the vessel would be heading to a repair yard by now. ABS suspended classification of the Castor on January 4, pending resolution of the casualty damage. "This is standard procedure when there has been significant damage," ABS Chief Surveyor Gus Bourneuf explained. "We are continuing to work closely with the owner in its attempts to safeguard the vessel." The vessel underwent its last annual survey in August 2000.

20 Feb 2001

'Safe Haven' Debate Could Have Resounding Effects

A situation ongoing at press time half way around the world promises to affect the way in which ship emergencies are handled in the U.S. and abroad. Last month, debates were raging and political fur was flying as the stricken tanker, Castor, carrying 29,000 tons of gasoline, was held in limbo as authorities on many levels debated the best course of action. The ship, which was damaged but still afloat and operational, was turned away from three countries — Morocco, Spain and Gibraltar — as it went to for assistance. Greek operator Athenian Sea Carriers said that the Moroccan Coast Guard instructed the vessel to move 40 miles offshore…