Australia’s Transport Safety Bureau has released two incident reports, one involving improperly packed hazardous cargo in a container and one about an engine failure due to a fatigued gudgeon pin and questionable maintenance.
Independent investigation into the leakage of dangerous goods on board the Liberian registered container ship, Kota Pahlawan off the coast of Australia on 16 June 2006
Occurrence Details
| Occurrence Number: | 228 | Location: | En route Singapore to Torres S |
| Occurrence Date: | 16 June 2006 | State: | QLD |
| Occurrence Time: | 1000 local time | Highest Injury Level: | None |
| Occurrence Category: | Incident | Investigation Type: | Occurrence Investigation |
| Occurrence Class: | # | Investigation Status: | Completed |
| Occurrence Type: | Equipment | Release Date: | 20 November 2007 |
Vessel Details
| Vessel: | Kota Pahlawan | Flag: | Lib | |
| IMO: | 9142942 | |||
| Type of Operation: | Container | |||
| Damage to Vessel: | Nil | |||
| Departure Point: | Singapore | Departure Time: | N/A | |
| Destination: | Brisbane | |||
On 16 June 2006, during Kota Pahlawan’s voyage from Singapore to Australia, a foul odour was noted coming from two containers on board the ship. The containers were packed with xanthates, dangerous goods which produce carbon disulphide vapours and can spontaneously combust.
Later that day, the master informed the ship’s charterer of the ‘incident’ and that the odour indicated that the packaging of the xanthates was not ‘gas-tight’, in accordance with international rules. He also asked for the containers to be discharged at Brisbane, the ship’s next port of call.
At 0411 on 18 June, the master reported the incident as a defect to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA). At 0720, the ship embarked a coastal pilot and started its transit of the Great Barrier Reef.
At 0907 on 19 June, AMSA issued a defect report and started collecting information about the incident. At 1252, the pilot disembarked from the ship after it had completed its transit of the northern part of the Great Barrier Reef Inner Route.
The ship berthed in Brisbane on 22 June after an ‘emergency’ was declared in the port. All eight xanthates containers on board the ship were discharged and purged with nitrogen gas to mitigate the risks posed by the foul smelling, highly flammable and toxic carbon disulphide vapours. On 24 June, the master was asked to reload the containers. He agreed on the condition that AMSA provide a written acceptance of the proposal with regard to ‘compliance’ with international rules.
By 0400 on 25 June, the xanthates containers had been reloaded onto the ship before it sailed from Brisbane. On 6 July, the ship discharged the last of the xanthates containers in Fremantle.
The report identifies several safety issues and the safety actions to address them.Download complete report [1.6 MB PDF]
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