USCG Detains 553-foot Vessel for Safety Violations

The Coast Guard detained the motor vessel Great Success, Tuesday,  requiring the vessel remain in Longview, Wash., until numerous safety violations are corrected by the ship’s crew.

Port State Control officers from Coast Guard Sector Columbia River’s Marine Safety Unit in Portland, Ore., discovered the discrepancies during routine inspections of the 553-foot Hong Kong-flagged vessel in Kalama, Wash., Monday and Longview on Tuesday.

Most safety discrepancies were related to fire danger and included excessive oil and oily water mixture in the bilges, excessive oil in the engine room, and oil-saturated lagging insulation throughout the engine room. The emergency fire pump was found to be leaking water and flooding the emergency fire pump room. The condition of the incinerator posed a significant fire hazard and could not be tested safely due to oil-saturated lagging insulation on the incinerator and pooling of oil in the immediate vicinity. All three generators and the boiler burner had active lube oil leaks, causing pooling of lube oil beneath the equipment. A fire door within the purifier flat could not be opened from inside the space creating an unsafe egress situation for crewmembers.

No pollution has been reported in connection with Great Success.

The Great Success will remain at anchor in Longview until the violations have been corrected. Great Success crewmembers have been working to correct the violations.

"The purpose of Port State Control detentions is to mitigate and remove safety and environmental hazards,” said Lt. Ben Russell, chief of Port State Control, MSU Portland.  “For vessels operating under a foreign flag entering a U.S. port, Port State Control becomes the primary means of marine safety enforcement.”

The vessel, owned by Rich Target Shipping LTD, was loaded with grain and scheduled to depart for Japan prior to its detention.