Gard Norway – Maritime Accident Casebook

Losing Anchors – Don’t Be Tempted To Wait

Accident, anchor, anchoring. Comments Off

Nov 122010

Take a bad storm, officers who perhaps are not as familiar with anchor characteristics affecting their vessel as they should be, a dash of commercial pressure, a master who’s wants to ‘wait and see’, anchors and cables that may be below spec and you have a recipe for losing an anchor.

P&I club Gard Norway says that it has seen an increasing number of lost anchor cases and that according to class societies class societies many as one anchor is lost every year for every 100 ships is lost annually.

Recovering anchors can be costly. Anchors and cables lost around moorings can be a hazard to other vessels

Safety Alert – Low Sulphur Fuels May Cause Engine Failure

maritime safety, safety alert Comments Off

Oct 142009

How's your HFO Separator?

P&I club Gard Norway, has issued a warning regarding what appears to be a growing problem: Engine failure due to excessive wear caused by fines in low-sulphur heavy fuel oil, HFO.

Says the club: “Gard regularly sees casualties involving engine breakdowns due to excessive wear caused by abrasive particles in the bunkered HFO. There have been an increasing number of HFO deliveries with higher levels of fines. This is thought to be due to the introduction of the low sulphur fuel requirements in parts of the world, and is probably a result of the production/blending processes used by the refinery industry to satisfy the demand for such low sulphur fuel. The current international standard for HFO to be used in marine diesel engines and boilers is ISO 8217:2005. But even where the HFO received onboard satisfies these requirements, operational problems may occur if the HFO separators are not properly operated and maintained.