Ships are dangerous places for the badly trained, the unwary, the careless. In this case two seafarers were killed by almost nothing.
Fire latest mishap at Hudong-Zhonghua
Seatradeasia-online – London,UK
Shanghai: Reports are filtering into Seatrade’s China news bureau of a fire onboard a ship under construction at Hudong Zhonghua’s shipyard in Changxing
Injured crew member forces return
Charleston Post Courier – Charleston,SC,USA
The ship was just beyond the jetties when the accident occurred, Van Liew said. A Charleston harbor pilot was quickly dispatched to guide the ship back into
Salvors must decide on search for containers
The South African Maritime Safety Authority is meeting salvors today to decide whether or not to continue the search for the containers lost off the coast of Cape Town last week.
Oil Spill Ship’s Firm Loses Appeal, Could Face $50 Million Fine
KTVU.com – San Francisco,CA,USA
Fleet Management was operating the Cosco Busan at the time the ship hit a fender of the Bay Bridge in heavy fog on Nov. 7, 2007, and spilled 53000 gallons
Sailors’ Society aids family of seafarer killed by pirates
Inspire Magazine – Worthing,England,UK
Sailors’ Society Ukrainian Port Chaplain Eduard Myrmyr is supporting the family of Sergey Vartenkov, the seafarer killed by pirates
PIRACY
New NATO flotilla takes over anti-piracy patrols
guardian.co.uk – UK
… interview from NATO’s anti-piracy headquarters in Northwood, near London. Despite the presence of about two dozen foreign warships backed up by maritime
All-Arab Red Sea anti-piracy force proposed in Riyadh
AFP
The International Maritime Bureau has reported a handful of attempted pirate attacks, none successful, at the southern end of the Red Sea this year
Somali govt seeks AU assistance
Kenya Broadcasting Corporation – Nairobi,Kenya
Somalia which has been without a functional government since 1991 has been hit by unrest with piracy along its coastline causing havoc within the maritime
US Military uavs Experiment Against Pirate Sea Attack Swarms
SatNews Publishers – Sonoma,CA,USA
In April, a swarm of pirate boats attacked a Yemeni tanker convoy, capturing one vessel. Swarms are a favorite tactic for low-tech, irregular forces,
Waverley in dock after collision injures passengers
The Herald – Glasgow,Scotland,UK
A jazz cruise, due to take place on Friday evening, has been postponed while assessments are made of the damage to the ship, and a trip from Glasgow due to
Turkey: Cargo ships collide in Aegean, no injuries
eTaiwan News – Taiwan
Maritime authorities say the Malta-flagged Marti Princess rammed into the German-flagged Renate Schulte late Saturday off the Turkish island of Bozcaada,
Five BC ferries involved in near misses in 2008
Vancouver Sun – British Columbia, Canada
"A near collision is any time where you need to take avoiding action," Capt. Raymond Mathew, the board’s senior marine investigator, explained in an
Collision in China invokes forum non conveniens
The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld the trial court’s application of the doctrine of forum non conveniens in a lawsuit filed in the United States by a Dutch dredge owner against a Panamanian shipowner involving damages from a collision that occurred in Chinese territorial waters.
Evoking a disaster that still stings
Toronto Star – Ontario, Canada
… killing 17 offshore oil workers, filled newspapers across the country with retrospective references to the Ocean Ranger, an oil rig that capsized
Piracy
Piracy warning for South China Sea
Marine Log – New York,NY,USA
The International Maritime Bureau has issued a piracy warning to all ships transiting off Mangkai Island / Anambas Islands / South China Sea.
Somalia pirates release Belgian ship with 10 crew members
Xinhua – China
¡¡NAIROBI, June 29 (Xinhua) — Somali pirates have released a Belgian ship and 10 crew members who were hijacked in April, an international maritime body
ReCAAP – robberies in the South China Sea
The ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre issued an incident
alert stating that an LPG carrier was boarded on June 27 by six men who stole
equipment and cash while the ship was underway in the South China Sea. The
master, second officer, and a seaman were tied up, but otherwise unharmed. A
second incident alert states that, on June 28, six men boarded a general cargo
ship underway in the South China Sea and stole money. Masters are urged to
exercise vigilance while in these waters.
Off Radar
Yacht sinks after falling from freight vessel in bay SAN DIEGO: The Coast Guard is investigating a yacht that sank in San Diego Bay at 11 a.m. yesterday. The yacht was being moved to the 10th Avenue Marine Terminal when it fell off a freight vessel and sank, authorities said.
MAC will be closed on 1 July for attendance at the inauguration of a plaque in memory of the Australian victims of the Japanese hellship, Montevideo Maru.
Thousands of victims came from two dozen countries and more professions, including merchant mariners – Norwegian seafarers who operated tug in Manila are just one example. They were forced into dark, sweltering, cramped cargo holds under appalling conditions, to be taken as slave labour for the Japanese war effort.
Some went mad, some died of malnutrition and disease, others because the unmarked vessels were attacked by allied forces.
Montevideo Maru was sunk off the Philippines with its sad, human cargo of Australians taken prisoner in Rabaul. Hundreds died.
Now a plaque is to be installed at Subic Bay Freeport in the only monument in the world to those who suffered and died in that too-often forgotten atrocity.
MAC will be reading the Ode, well-known in the UK and Commonwealth countries:
They shall not grow old, as we that are
left grow old.
Age shall not weary them, nor the
years condemn.
At the going down of the sun, and in
the morning,
We will remember them.
Australia’s ABC News carries the story here.
When it comes to safe navigation, if you don’t ask a question right you’re not asking the right question and you won’t get the right answer.
Listen and read the transcript here
Seven die in late-night helicopter crash ‘Tragic end to routine …
By Webmaster
… were instantaneously killed late on Sunday night when a Westland-Sikorsky S55 helicopter, in which they were making a regular nine-minute flight from land to an offshore oil-drilling rig, crashed into the sea about one mile from the
Fire razes a ship in West Lombok
Jakarta Post – Jakarta,Indonesia
Fire razed a passenger ship berthed at Lembar Harbor, West Lombok on Saturday. No fatalities were reported. The Nusa Sejahtera ship was under maintenance
Freighter crashes into pier at Port of Hueneme
Ventura County Star – Camarillo,CA,USA
Coast Guard officials from Santa Barbara were investigating the accident this afternoon. It is not known whether the ship will have to stay in port for
Coast Guard rescues sinking vessel in strait – KNDO/KNDU Tri …
SEATTLE (AP) – A Coast Guard cutter from Port Angeles prevented a fishing vessel from sinking Wednesday night in the Strait of Juan de Fuca (FEW’-kuh) where
Coast Guard approves cruise ship movement to dry dock for repairs …
By cgnews
Further investigation by the Coast Guard team identified 16 discrepancies including lifesaving, fire fighting, safety, and other maintenance deficiencies. Underwater divers hired by the cruise ship company have located the crack in the
Lady Mary owner’s theory says ship’s wave sank boat …
Smith noted that lone Lady Mary survivor Jose Luis Arias was asleep and did not wake to the sound of a collision. Tim Smith woke up Arias, who said he immediately noticed water in the boat. "The bulbous bow pushes water ahead of it,
A Hapag-Lloyd containership that ploughed into a more than four mile long seismic streamer array being towed by an offshore survey vessel in the Gulf of Mexico has been judged to be two thirds responsible for the $25m of damage caused.
Loud music was playing on the bridge of the 3,200-teu St Louis Express (built 2002) judged by a London admiralty court to be mainly culpable for the costly incident.
Gibraltar is responsible for the New Flame sinking
Ecologistas en Acción – Spain
Gibraltarian government’s negligence led to the vessel’s sinking New Flame. This ship was loaded with 42000 tons of scrap metal and characteristics of the
California coastal herring fishery to close
Sacramento Bee – CA, USA
Early evidence also suggests pollution from the Cosco Busan oil spill in November 2007 may have harmed spawning that year, depressing the population that
BP SUPPORTS “FLYING ANGEL”
Maritime Global Net – Warren,RI,USA
BP Marine has agreed to supply the Mission to Seafarers Dubai-run seafarer support vessel Flying Angel with her lube oil requirements for the following
Piracy
Background Briefing on US Assistance to the Somalia Transitional …
US Department of State – Washington,DC,USA
The governments of Uganda and Burundi have troops on the ground in Mogadishu in support of the TFG, and we have provided material assistance to the TFG
Off The Radar
Ossining – Vessel in Distress – 06-26-09 – EMTBravo.net
Fire Apparatus Collision Repair … 1811hrs-WCPD HQ advising Marine-4 that the vessel in distress is a 28′ sailboat, white in color, no other markings. Its sails are down, there are (4) females & (1) canine aboard, all wearing life vests.
(Good to know even the dog had a life-vest)
Bosun Jack was dead. His body lay under the worklights beside a pool of blood. The instrument of his death was a short distance away. One thing is certain, his killer still hunts seafarers.
Safety for 20 cents a day
A reminder, if you’re not already aware, that MAC has a subscription service with enhanced products. Check it out here.
Will MAC’s free service continue? Yes, we’ll go on providing podcasts and safety information for seafarers, what we are currently calling MAC Premium will support that efforts.
Second reminder, if you’re getting this through an RSS feed, change it for our new one at www.maritimeaccident.org/idess ,which will send you the latest news and podcasts.
When it comes to safe navigation, if you don’t ask a question right you’re not asking the right question and you won’t get the right answer.
Get the transcript here.
Guidelines for the Safe Management of Offshore Supply and Rig Move Operations (NW European Area), have been updated.
The North West European Area (NWEA) Guidelines for the Safe Management of Offshore Supply and Anchor Handling Operations were developed in 2006 as a joint project between maritime and offshore organisations in Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and the UK. Best practise and experience exchange are basis for these guidelines and the aim has been to develop a guideline worth using worldwide.
The group rejoined to revise the guidelines during 2008-2009 and cooperated well. Serious anchor handling accidents influenced the updates of version 2. Especially chapter 6, 7, 8 and 9 are revised thoroughly and the conclusions of the accident investigation board reports are duly incorporated in the text.
The guidelines are renamed to better explain the content of the guidelines.
Click here to download the English version of the guidelines
Comments and suggestions
All comments and suggestions on improvements to the NWEA Guidelines are welcome. Comments should be sent to postmaster@nwea.info, where they will be collated and incorporated into future versions of the guidance.
Norwegian additional info;
The Norwegian Oil Industry Association, OLF, and Norwegian Shipowner’ Association, NSA, withdraw by this their Guidelines no 061 and 61 A.
Guidelines 061 and 61A were developed earlier through the Norwegian three partite cooperation.
Norwegian input to NWEA group was based on these OLF/NSA guidelines and consequently the NWEA guidelines are considered to be three partite cooperation in the Norwegian context.
Bob Couttie
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