It’s been a bad week for lifeboats, once termed ‘the Pinto of the seas’. Over at Maritime Accident Casebook three incidents during drills and training have come to light, two on offshore platforms, one at an onshore training facility. All are currently under investigation and therefore sort of subjudice but in one case the lowering of a davit-launched lifeboat was halted due to a problem with the falls. Confused radio communications between those inside the boat and the person lowering the lifeboat apparently made those inside believe they were on the water and that the hydrostatic release had malfunctioned, so they over-rode the hydrostatic release and the boat fell a considerable distance into the water, causing a number of injuries.

Investigators will probably concentrate on three elements: the fouling of the cable, the radio communications problem, and the over-riding of the hydrostatic release. Inadequate training and drills is likely to surface as a root cause.

Cosco Busan, every San Franciscan’s favourite hate-object, is very much in the news. Setting aside the issue of the pilot’s medication, there are lots of lessons worth learning or re-learning. The latest Maritime Accident Casebook podcast, The Case of the Foggy Pilot, looks at bridge team management, how to get information out of a cranky pilot and how to ask and answer questions. After all, if you don’t ask a question right, you’re not asking the right question. [Continue Reading →]

Maritime Photographer Frodog brings us this HD image of the infamous MSC Napoli in drydock. He writes:

In a Dry Dock aft of the Resolution was this Hulk of a ship, being broken up. it transpired to be the Napoli, which ran aground around about this time last year, off the Devon and Dorset coast, with many items of her cargoes washing ashore, including BMW motor cycles amongst other stuff, which bounty hunters rightly claimed ownership. Whilst looking around, there was a decontamination unit working. What are they decontaminating? I ask. I was lucky enough not to be asked not to take photographs, unlike a colleague of mine who was prevented from doing so! LINK

On June 12, efforts to remove the final section of the wrecked container ship got under way as salvors working to raise the stern - including the ship’s 1,400-tonne engine - laid new chains under the hull to help them lift it off the sea bed . Salvors aim to bring the remains of the vessel to the surface by August so it can be scrapped.

Read the latest on the MSC Napoli salvage operation at BBC HERE

The timber that was lost when from Russian flagged Sinegorsk encountered rough seas earlier this week began to wash ashore along the Kent coast. Below is a slideshow provided by the Guardian. (Click image for pop-up window)

Of course, local authorities are warning the public that it is illegal to scavenge the lost cargo.  The photos remind us of two other incidents in recent times. Check out those Flickr slideshows below and you’ll see the similarities. [Continue Reading →]

This week in MAIS Podcast we discuss seasickness, give you and update on the MSC Napoli incident, share a note from Roger Enright of Speaking from the Gulch blog on Olympic 49er Class story, and tell you how Admiral Thad Allen, Commandant of the US Coast Guard became Peter’s friend.

Download MP3: Messing About In Ships podcast episode 28

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 MAIS Episode 29 [30:15m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Just some of the flotsam from the MSC Napoli. Read all the details at CargoLaw.

Via CargoLaw

BBC News tells us:

Accident investigators have identified 12 other ships that could suffer the same failure as the container ship MSC Napoli which was beached off Devon and salvaged live on television with explosives.

Urgent strengthening of the ships has been ordered by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB).

The MAIB blamed the MSC Napoli’s design after a series of large waves left a crack in her hull in January last year.

Vertical cracks could be seen in the hull below the waterline on the port and starboard sides, and the ship’s master assessed that the vessel had “broken her back.”

A “wall of oily water” shot through the cracked hull of the ship before it was safely abandoned, the report said.

The hull failure was due to “lack of buckling strength in the engine room region,” said the MAIB report.

More than 1,500 similar ships were screened following the incident, of which 12 unidentified ships required strengthening work “to bring them up to acceptable safety standards,” said the report.

Stephen Meyer, chief inspector of the MAIB said: “The MAIB has worked closely with the world’s leading classification societies to identify any other vessels that may have the same design flaw as the MSC Napoli. Continue Reading…

You can view the Full MAIB report courtesy of the BBC  HERE.

Early last week the BBC also told us of the operation to recycle the ship:

Now the front section of the MSC Napoli is two weeks away from the smelters’.

The firm that built the Titanic - Harland and Wolff - landed the task of dismantling the cargo ship, which had to be beached on the Devon coast.

At the time there were incredible scenes of people rushing to the beach to take advantage of the unexpected bounty of the sea, in the shape of containers of motorcycles and other goods washed ashore.

The Belfast shipyard became one of the benefactors of the sad destruction of the ocean-going behemoth, keeping 80 pairs of hands busy at the yard.

It has been an interesting assignment for the crews, an estimated five cubic tonnes of waste oil needing removal became an actual 100 tonnes, adding to the workload of staff.

Now the cutting up of the superstructure is nearing completion and is expected to end up leaving 60,000 tonnes of ship-building grade steel, with the exception of one piece that was auctioned off for the BBC’s Children in Need charity. Continue Reading…

They also have photos of the scrapping operation HERE.

Finally, Maritime Accident Casebook shares with us MSC Napoli Crew Knew The Drill, they write:

“It was evident during the investigation that the master had placed a great deal of emphasis on the importance of safety drills and the maintenance of lifesaving equipment, and that the preparation and lowering of lifeboats had been well-practiced in accordance with company policy.”

No-one was hurt during the evacuation from the ship, and that may be owed to the seriousness with which the master took safety procedures and drills.

The abandon ship did not go without a hitch, “the crewman sitting nearest the forward painter release could not pull the release pin sufficiently far to allow the painter to disengage. He was squeezed between two other crew and his movement was restricted by his immersion suit. The painter was eventually cut by the chief engineer, who had a knife, and was able to reach the painter via the lifeboat’s forward hatch.” Continue Reading…

Here is the ship arriving in Belfast:

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Here is the underwater survey on the damaged section of the ship:

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Here is the MSC Napoli in Photo:

For our previous related discussion click on our MSC Napoli tag.

We woke up this morning to an emails asking what our best post of 2007 was? While we’ll leave that for you to decide, here are our the most posts received the most traffic:

10) What Are You Sinking About?

9) Download YouTube Videos

8 ) Top 10 Rescue at Sea Videos from the U.S. Coast Guard

7) Ship “MSC Napoli” Salvage with Explosives

6) Windoc Incident - Photos, Video & TSB Report

5) Piper Alpha Disaster - 19 Year Anniversary of Tragedy

4) Disaster At Sea - Photos of Maritime Destruction

3) The Wartsila-Sulzer Super Engine

2) Pasha Bulker - Photo Slideshow

1) Emma Maersk - From Shipyard Fire to the World Records

(Source: Google Analytics)

If your browser does not support the slideshow you can still view the photos HERE. [Continue Reading →]

The beached vessel “MSC Napoli” was broken in two with the use of explosives as part of the $100m and rising salvage attempt. The Guardian UK tells us:

When the cargo vessel was refloated last week, a diving survey revealed that the hull was severely damaged and it was beached again on Thursday. Attempts to break the hull during high tide failed on Monday morning, prompting the decision to use explosives yesterday, when a 1,000-metre exclusion zone was placed around the ship.

Salvage teams will assess whether a further detonations are necessary to finally remove the vessel from the world heritage Jurassic Coast. Read More…

Here is the BBC Footage of the event:

For those who do not know the story Eagle Speak has the history HERE.

Click for photos: [Continue Reading →]