Two died and two others were seriously injured when a twin-fall lifeboat from the Diamond Offshore-owned, OGX-leased rig was being recovered from the sea after training and maintenance operations. A Triple 5 hook from the lifeboat is being examined by the manufacturer, Survival Systems International.

The Triple 5 hook is based on an early design by the same company with a record of 25 years without an accident. It is designed to fail-to-safe under load.

The report, expected in Q3 2010 is expected to address the issue of lifeboat recovery with crew aboard, which frequently results in deaths and injuries when safety-critical hoisting equipment fails.

Another Two Lifeboat Deaths

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The Case Of The Killer Catch

The Case Of The Fallen Saviour

The Case of the Fall From Grace

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Intertanko Marine Manager :”Whole lifeboat system unsatisfactory”

Safety Alert – IADC Caution on Lifeboats

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Schatt-Harding – “hooks made of wrong steel”

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Your Lifeboat Experiences

It is worthless to expect such worthless examples of cowardice to hang their heads in shame, for they have none.

Their fellow officers will know who they are, and those officers would be wise to to refuse to be in the same bridge, and be tainted with the same shade of yellow. Honourable companies will kick these men out of the industry they have disgraced – they have no place on a bridge.

The foregoing opinions are those of MAC, but may be unique.

Here, for reference is the introduction to the latest MAIB Safety Alert. Other may judge whether MAC’s comments are appropriate.

“MAIB is currently investigating the death of a seafarer, during which we have discovered evidence of dereliction of one of the most fundamental duties of the mariner – the moral and legal obligation to go to the aid of those in peril on the sea. Even at the height of war, civilised combatants went to great lengths to save the lives of sailors from enemy vessels they had sunk. Yet here we are, in the 21st Century, finding ships failing to respond to Mayday messages.

“In the case we are investigating, poor visual lookout meant that most of the major vessels within 10 miles of the sinking vessel reportely failed to see a series of distress flares. This in itself is disappointing, but even more alarmingly, most of the same ships also failed to respond to the Mayday Relay, issued several times by the Coastguard. Some claimed not to have heard the VHF (poor standards of watchkeeping again); some claimed not to have received the DSC distress alerts (!); and some masters claimed not to understand that they have a legal (and moral) duty to react.

“SOLAS is quite clear on the subject:
“Regulation 33 – Distress Situations: Obligations and Procedures
The master of a ship at sea which is in a position to be able to provide assistance,
on receiving information from any source that persons are in distress at sea, is bound to proceed with all speed to their assistance, if possible informing them or the search and rescue service that the ship is doing so. This obligation to provide assistance applies regardless of the nationality or status of such persons or the circumstances in which they are found. If the ship receiving the distress alert is unable or, in the special circumstances of the case, considers it unreasonable or unnecessary to proceed to their assistance, the master must enter in the log-book the reason for failing to proceed to the assistance of the persons in distress, taking into account the recommendation of the Organization to inform the appropriate search and rescue service accordingly.”

”I approached the senior management of each of the ships involved. I am pleased to report that all reacted with horror that their vessels had not responded, and took urgent action to instruct all their ships to respond properly to such situations in the future.

”I would urge all companies and mariners to remember that this requirement is not optional.

”It is also not up to coastal stations to call ships with a request to assist; in such circumstances it is the duty of every “master of a ship at sea which is in a position to be able to provide assistance” to at least call the search and rescue service and then respond to their instructions.”

Chief Officer Charles P. Posas, has scored a dubious first in legal history. He is the first person to be charged with a violation of the US Anti-Invasive Species Law in addition to two felony counts of lying to the Coast Guard and violating recordkeeping laws. His superior, Captain Panagiotis Lekkas, is charged with violating anti-pollution laws, ship safety laws and obstructing a US Coast Guard investigation. Both have pleaded guilty in a Federal court in New Orleans, sentencing for both officers defendants is set for 14 October, 2009.

Says the US Department of Justice: “Posas is the first individual ever charged under the anti-invasive species law, a law designed to mitigate the introduction of marine invasive species into waters of the United States. Aquatic nuisance species are non-indigenous species that threaten the diversity or abundance of native species or the ecological stability of infested waters.

“Lekkas, who was the highest ranking officer aboard the ship, pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, one count of obstruction of justice and two counts of violating the Ports and Waterways Safety Act. Posas, who served as the vessel’s chief officer, pleaded guilty to one count of false statement and one count of violating the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance and Prevention Control Act.”

Their vessel, M/V Theotokos, is owned by Liberia-based Mirage Navigation Corporation and managed by Polembros Shipping Limited.

In the summer of 2008, on passage from the Suez Canal to China, Lekkas and Posas suspected that the aftpeak ballast tank was leaking, but the crew was unable to confirm a leak during an inspection. Later, while at a dock, offloading cargo in China, Lekkas and Posas saw a crack of about 60 centimetres in the ship’s rudder stem. It was evident that water had passed through the crack because water was streaming out of it from inside of the ship. Lekkas reported the crack to company personnel, but failed to write a written report. Lekkas did not report it to the Coast Guard until he was confronted by Coast Guard inspectors in New Orleans.

In court documents, Lekkas admitted that he knew the crack could have adversely affected the safety and safe handling and operation of the vessel. No repairs were undertaken on the rudder stem crack until the Coast Guard ordered it repaired upon its discovery.

The Port and Waterways Safety Act, PWSA, requires that a vessel operator must report all hazardous conditions to the Coast Guard prior to arrival in a US port. Under the PWSA regulations, a hazardous condition does not have to be a definitive danger or imminent threat, but need only be a condition that may adversely affect the safety of any vessel, bridge, structure or shore area or the environmental quality of any port, harbour or navigable waterway of the United States..

The  US Coast Guard has notification processes in place for vessels arriving at US ports that have identified hazardous conditions onboard, such as excessive leaks and major equipment malfunctions. A vessel operator has several options available, including notifying the Coast Guard 96 hours prior to arrival of the hazardous condition or contacting the applicable ports’ 24-hour Sector Command Center or Vessel Traffic Service.

Through further investigation, the Coast Guard also found fuel was leaking, or “migrating”, from the deep fuel tanks into the forepeak ballast tank. Directly astern of the forepeak tank were two fuel tanks, known as the deep fuel tanks.

In mid-September 2008, Lekkas and Posas learned that fuel oil may have been leaking into the forepeak ballast tank because it was reported that the sounding tapes were dirty with oil. After opening the tank’s hatch, two inspections confirmed the presence of oil in the forepeak tank. Following this discovery, Captain Lekkas ordered the crew to undertake a cleaning operation that initially involved skimming the surface of the water in order to remove the oil. In order to facilitate further cleaning, Lekkas ordered the level of the liquid in the tank lowered by pumping it directly overboard through the ballast pump. As the liquid level was lowered the crew could clean more of the tank, with the cleaning operation expanding to rags and a portable pump. The discharged ballast liquid was contaminated with oil.

The Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships and its regulations require that discharges from the machinery spaces of a cargo ship must be fully and accurately recorded in the oil record book. This obligation extends to emergency, accidental, or other exceptional discharges of oil and oily mixtures. Lekkas ordered the ballast discharges and counter-signed each page of the oil record book, certifying its accuracy. However, none of the contaminated ballast water discharges were recorded in the Oil Record Book.

When the vessel was about two days out from arriving in New Orleans, in late September 2008, it was clear that oil was continuing to leak into the forepeak tank. Prior to entering the Mississippi River and about a day out from New Orleans, Lekkas ordered two fitters to fabricate and install an obstruction device onto the forepeak tank’s sounding tube so that during Coast Guard inspections, when taking a sounding, the results would only reveal water and not the presence of oil in the tank. The obstruction device consisted of a rubber hose with a metal stopper at the bottom end. Before being affixed to the sounding tube, the rubber hose was partially filled with water.

On Oct. 1, 2008, the Coast Guard boarded the M/V Theotokos near New Orleans in order to inspect the ship. During the inspection, the Coast Guard oversaw the sounding of the forepeak tank which indicated the presence of water in the tank but did not reveal the oil. Later, as part of the inspection, the Coast Guard had the crew open the hatch to the forepeak tank which revealed approximately one meter of oil in the tank. During the initial inspection, confined spaces safety regulations prevented the Coast Guard inspectors from retrieving the obstruction device. Although the inspection lasted another two days, Lekkas ordered the fitters to remove the rubber hose from the tank and restore the sounding tube to its original condition. The removal occurred before the Coast Guard had an opportunity to enter the tank.

In addition to the obstruction regarding the sounding pipe, Lekkas admitted in court documents that he knew about the fuel leak into the forepeak tank well before coming to New Orleans and that he chose not to report the leaks to the Coast Guard. Lekkas further admitted that the fuel migration may have adversely affected the safety of the M/V Theotokos or the environmental quality of US ports and shores because the oil contamination in the ballast system meant that captain could not have utilized the ballast system, with its attendant direct overboard discharges, without polluting the marine environment.

Additionally, during the inspection, a Coast Guard inspector asked to see complete ballast records for the Theotokos. Posas responded by physically handing the inspector a copy of the 27 September, 2008, ballast report, which is a report of soundings and volumes of water in the ballast system. Posas prepared, signed and maintained these reports as part of his duties as chief officer. In court documents Posas admitted, that at the time he presented the ballast report to the Coast Guard inspector, he knew that the form was false.

Maintenance of accurate ballast water records is required under Ballast Water Management for Control of Nonindigenous Species regulations promulgated under the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act.

“Invasive marine species are a serious problem that can be transmitted in the ballast water of oceangoing vessels. Today’s pleas should act as a warning to industry and crewmembers alike that we will investigate and prosecute those who ignore not only pollution laws but those laws designed to protect native species,” said John C. Cruden, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.

US Attorney Jim Letten noted, “The message should be clear that this office, in conjunction with its partnership with the US Coast Guard, the Department of Justice Environmental Crimes Section and all its law enforcement partners, will vigorously prosecute individuals who impede or obstruct the US Coast Guard’s mission and pollute our marine environment.”

“This case clearly demonstrates the Coast Guard’s commitment to work with our interagency partners to aggressively enforce all maritime anti-pollution and safety of life at sea laws. The breadth and magnitude of the investigation that underpinned the charges brought forth is a testament to the dedication of all persons who were involved in resolving this matter including the Coast Guard Investigative Service, the US Department of Justice‘s Environmental Crime Section, and the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana,” said Rear Admiral Mary Landry, Eighth District Coast Guard commander.

Your car’s parked in the lot outside a roadside diner, well off the road, when a another vehicle pulling a trailer passes. As it passes the trailer breaks free and ploughs into your car, rupturing the petrol tank and spilling fuel. So the police arrest you because you should have assumed that the trailer would break free of the vehicle and parked somewhere else. That’s the sort of utter daftness today’s seafarers face daily and which 53 year old Captain JS Chawla of the Hebei Spirit faces today, so it’s a pleasure to report that while he waits under the threat of a $75,000 fine or up to a year in prison, he was announced one of two runners-up in the Lloyds List/Nautical Institute Shipmaster of the Year Award announced today, 2nd April.

Chawla deserves much kudos for the defense of his vessel, which you can read about here. An airline pilot in a comparable situation would have walked away with a medal in his hand, not convict’s stripes. It is to be hoped that the award might do something to publicise not only his plight, but those of other seafarers.

Says the Nautical Institute: “In a year when the trend to criminalise masters for unfortunate accidents has continued, it is not surprising that this case has become extremely contentious.”

The Shipmaster Of The Year award intends to: “…pay fitting tribute to a Master who has shown leadership, courage and vision while in command…”. Each of the 11 nominees had certainly earned their stripes and of the choice of the final three the Nautical Institute release says: “In judging, the panel recognized the special qualities the nominees brought to the wellbeing of crew and the commercial interests of the company, numerous initiatives to improve safety and operational performance, and cases of outstanding seamanship and leadership.”

Finally, the award went to Captain Alistair McFadyen of the 37,500 tonnes P&O ferry Pride Of Bilbao. This vessel, too, found lawyers on its gangplank in the past: The vessel’s second officer, Michael Hubble, found himself on three charges of manslaughter last year after the disappearance of the yacht Ouzo south of the Isle of Wight in 2006, which were dismissed.

Captain McFadyen’s award was for his command of the vessel “…during severe weather in the Bay of Biscay in March 2007. Over a period of 4 days, the P&O Ferry, Pride of Bilbao, encountered winds of Force 9 increasing to Storm Force 12, with waves and swell to match. The ship was hove to for many hours and skilfully manoeuvred to minimise risk of injury or damage.

“Throughout the ordeal Captain McFadyen kept the passengers and crew advised and ensured that the company was kept fully informed. The result was the safe completion of the voyage, satisfied customers, and a tired but professionally proud crew. The company were also commended for delaying the next scheduled sailing while the crew got some much-needed rest.”

The ubiquitous Youtube carries videos of the storm, and comments by some of the passengers here.

Scoring a “highly recommended” alongside Captain Chawla was Captain Chernobrovkin, master of the 47,326 DWT chemical product tanker MT Butterfly, who performed a tough mid-Atlantic rescue of a lone yachtsman in a winter gale.

Sadly, the kudos these men earned will inevitably pale against the current enthusiasm to prosecute seafarers so attorneys can bulk up their pension plans.

______________

This post was written by Bob Couttie of Maritime Accident Casebook. Bob Couttie has written for a number of maritime industry publications, including the prestigious Lloyd’s List International daily newspaper and Lloyd’s Ship Manager magazine. His reportage on problems with ship’s officer certification examinations in the Philippines in the late 1990s influenced the adoption of computerized examinations for ship officers by the country’s Professional Regulatory Commission.

Fire is the third biggest major ship incident, behind collisions and groundings, and costs as many lives as man-overboard, enclosed space accidents and lifeboat incidents. As The Case Of The Tongues Of Fire, the latest episode in the Maritime Accident Casebook series of podcasts, communications and knowhow are vital elements in effective firefighting but leadership and discipline can reduce the chance of it happening in the first place.

The Case Of The Tongues Of Fire tells the story of the fire aboard the Maersk Doha in 2006. Putting water on the fire, inside the casing of the vessel’s exhaust gas economiser actually made the fire hotter. One by one, emergency equipment failed and firefighting procedures proved ineffective.

You can find MAC’s complete set of interesting and informative podcasts HERE. A great tool for your safety meetings!