Accident Investigation Board News

The deaths of a Polish woman and her 7-year-old son last week following their plunge from a Baltic Sea ferry travelling from Sweden to Poland was not an accident, a preliminary investigation by Danish authorities has found.The case was being investigated as a possible murder, Swedish prosecutors said on Friday.The case had been handed over to the police, the public prosecutor and the Danish Maritime Authority for further investigation. Danish authorities are investigating the case because the ferry Stena Spirit was sailing under the Danish flag."Our investigation showed quite clearly that it was not an accident," Oessur Jarleivson Hilduberg…

An oil tanker and a Norwegian navy frigate collided off Norway's west coast on Thursday, injuring eight people and triggering the temporary shutdown of a North Sea crude export terminal, Norway's top gas processing plant and several offshore fields.The frigate, which recently took part in a major NATO military exercise, was aground and tilting on one side, live television pictures showed. The Norwegian military was attempting to save the ship."We are working on stabilizing the vessel…

An eight-day training course on the latest tools, processes and procedures in the investigation of marine incidents is taking place in Victoria, Seychelles (7-15 November). The course will focus in particular on how to carry out such investigations in accordance with the mandatory  International Maritime Organization (IMO)  Casualty Investigation Code. William Azuh of the Technical Cooperation Division and Ms Purity Thirimu of IMO Regional Presence Office, Nairobi, are coordinating the training course. Twenty five participants are drawn from the Seychelles Marine Accident Investigation Board, Department of Transport, Seychelles Maritime Safety Administration…

An investigation into the cause of a fatal North Sea helicopter crash is focusing on the parts of the aircraft that connected the rotor blades to the main body of the helicopter, investigators said on Friday. An Airbus H225 Super Puma helicopter ferrying passengers from a Norwegian oil platform operated by Statoil crashed on April 29, killing all 13 people on board. Since then the helicopter model, a workhorse of the oil industry, has been grounded for commercial flights in Norway and Britain. Investigators have ruled out human error, saying that the crash was caused by a technical fault. On Friday a preliminary report by the Norwegian Accident Investigation Board said it was focusing on a specific section of the aircraft.

A 2,600-tonne cargo ship has run aground while docking close to berth at Corpach on Loch Linnhe at Fort William on the west coast of Scotland in windy conditions. Stornoway Coastguard said the alarm was raised this morning when the 91-metre ship Fri Sea went aground at high water at Corpach. Seven crew members remain on board the ship and there are no signs of any injuries, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said. The Secretary Of State’s Representative for Maritime Salvage and Intervention is aware and is monitoring the situation, said the spokeswoman of MCA. It looks as if the strong winds that were blowing may have caught her when she was almost stopped in the water. The coastguard said it was likely an attempt to refloat the vessel would be made at high water on Sunday.

The Danish Maritime Accident Investigation Board (DMAIB) has issued a summary report in the English language concerning a fire outbreak aboard the container ship in the Gulf of Aden. On the morning of 18 June 2013, the crew on the Danish flagged container ship EUGEN MÆRSK discovered a container fire on the aft cargo deck. At the time the ship was in the Gulf of Aden, underway from Tanjung Pelepas, Malaysia to Rotterdam, the Netherlands. In the days leading up to the fire, the ship had encountered some rough weather resulting in substantial damage to cargo containers and their lashings.

On December 20, 2013, the Danish Maritime Authority submitted a bill to amend the Danish Pilotage Act and various other acts for consultation. The main purpose of the bill is to make it possible to perform pilotage assignments in Danish waters in a more efficient manner and thus to contribute to protecting safety of navigation and the environment. The bill is intended to create increased competition in the pilotage area and will make it easier for existing and new pilotage service providers to operate in the market. The bill is a follow-up on the Government’s publication in the field of competition policy from October 2012 entitled “Enhanced competition for the benefit of Denmark” and the subsequent analysis of the Danish pilotage market.

Denmark's Maritime Accident Investigation Board has released its report on the Suez Canal approach incident on board the container ship 'Emma Maersk' earlier in 2013. On the evening of 1 February 2013, a severe leakage occurred in the container ship EMMA MÆRSK while the ship, loaded with general cargo in about 14,000 containers, was about to pass southbound through the Suez Canal. The leakage was caused by a mechanical breakdown of a stern thruster situated at the aft part of the ship’s shaft tunnel whereby the shaft tunnel was flooded.

The Danish Maritime Accident Investigation Board (DMAIB) reports on the fire that occured on board in early 2012. On 9 January 2012, a fire broke out in the ship’s hospital of the AHTS vessel Maersk Champion that was engaged in tanker lifting/heading control off the Brazilian coast. The cause of the fire was self ignition by a chemical reaction between chlorine-containing granules and other chemical substances in a plastic box with medicine and chemical residues located in the ship's hospital.

WASHINGTON – The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) today announced it is seeking to fill a senior position in the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), one of the two agencies that will replace the former Minerals Management Service on Oct. 1, 2011. The position is being filled now to ensure a smooth transition. This position will serve as the Chief of the Accident Investigation Board, and will be located in the bureau’s office in Herndon, Va.

The UK Marine Accident Investigation Board (MAIB) released the report of the joint investigation on the grounding of the CP Valour in Baia da Praia do Norte, Faial, Azores on 9 December 2005. The Governments of Bermuda (where the ship was registered) and Portugal (the coastal state involved) participated in the investigation. The ship suffered an engine failure en route from Montreal to Valencia. The master decided to divert to the Azores and anchor in a sheltered bay so that the engine could be repaired. Passage planning to the bay was poor and bridge team management during the approach was negligible. As a result, the master became overloaded with duties and inadvertently left the engine on half ahead for several minutes while looking for the best anchorage.

Red Funnel's East Cowes - Southampton service was back to normal on March 14, after its Red Falcon car ferry crashed into the mainland dock on March 10, injuring nine people. The company announced its normal two-boat service for the time of year had been restored, although it was operating from a different berth. Until repairs can be made to the damaged linkspan, Red Funnel expects to be running the car ferry service from 25 berth, accessible through dock gate four at Southampton's Eastern Docks. The Hi-Speed service between Cowes and Southampton is unaffected and operating normally. Meanwhile, the master and mate of Red Falcon have been suspended.

A Brixham fishing vessel is now on its way back to Brixham after it collided with a chemical tanker 33.5 miles off Start Point. Brixham Coastguard overheard a conversation between two fishing vessels in the early hours of this morning on Channel 16 and contacted the vessels for further information. The 24 metre beam trawler ‘De Vrow Marie’ was fishing and showing its trawling lights when it was approached by a chemical tanker. The chemical tanker was head on with the fishing vessel and when it was 200 yards away took drastic action to avoid the fishing vessel. At the same time the fishing vessel took action to remove itself from the path of the tanker. However, the fishing vessel steered to starboard, as is the correct procedure, but the tanker steered to port and the two vessels collided.

The UK Marine Accident Investigation Board (MAIB) issued its report

The fatal accident during a marine evacuation system (MES) deployment drill in Dover Harbour last October, and the subsequent Safety Bulletin issued by the UK Marine Accident Investigation Board (MAIB Safety Bulletin 1/2003) last month, highlights a broader issue that has been of concern to Austal Ships for some time. Having been required to conduct many such evacuation trials as part of the commissioning process for fast ferry newbuilds, Austal is aware that there is potential for serious injury and, as the incident in Dover shows, even more tragic outcomes. Although the Safety Bulletin relates specifically to the vertical chute type MES, there is also a degree of injury risk in using other styles of MES.