MT SEEB, an Iranian-owned Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC)

At about 2100hrs on 04 Jan 2012 (Singapore time), the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) received a report that a Singapore-registered containership, Kota Tenaga and a Malta-registered VLCC, M/T SEEB had collided at about 2.7km south of Pulau Sebarok.

The master of Kota Tenaga reported that about 5 metric tons of marine fuel oil had spilled into the sea.  An inter-agency effort, coordinated by MPA, was immediately activated to contain and clean up the oil spill. The spillage of oil from Kota Tenaga was contained and Kota Tenaga was moved to Raffles Reserved Anchorage. An oil boom was laid around the vessel as a precaution. There is no report of injury to crew members.

A total of 12 craft was activated to monitor and clean up the oil spill. Non-toxic and biodegradable oil spill dispersants were used to break up patches of oil sighted in the vicinity of Pulau Pawai, Pulau Senang, and Raffles Reserved Anchorage.

MPA continues to monitor the situation closely and will respond to any sighting of oil patches.

Traffic in the port and the Strait of Singapore remains unaffected.

MPA is investigating the cause of the collision.

In this file photo, a ship passes under the Fred Hartman bridge on the Houston ship channel. USCG photo by PA2 James Dillard

Two ships collided Tuesday morning while transiting the Houston Ship Channel north of the Texas City Dike in heavy fog, according to the USCG.

Watchstanders at the Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston said they received a report at approximately 8:08 a.m. that the 630-foot tanker, Charleston and the Harvest Moon, a 623-foot cargo vessel, had collided.  No injuries or environmental damage was reported.

A portion of the Houston Ship Channel from Light #28 through Light #40 was closed to traffic as a precautionary measure for the anchored ships, the Coast Guard said in a statement.  The section remained closed as of 4:30 local time.

The incident is currently under investigation and officials have not determined if weather played a role in the accident.

Meanwhile Houston ship boardings were suspended following the accident for nearly seven hours due to fog but resumed at about 3 p.m. local time.

Photo: The chemical tanker Afrodite. Photo: Peter Beentjes via MarineTraffic

Seven crewmembers of the small containership, Florece, were rescued from liferafts early this morning after the vessel sank following a collision with a larger chemical tanker owned by Tsakos Group, the Afrodite.  The collision occurred at about 3:30 this morning 240 miles south-south-west of Lands End in the UK.

Falmouth Coastguard were alerted to the incident after the Florece crew set off an EPIRB, alerting the coast guard to their position, as the vessel began to sink.  After contacting the master of the Afrodite, the coast guard was informed that the men had abandoned into liferafts the crew of the Afrodite attempted to deploy the vessels fast rescue craft but were unsuccessful.

The Falmouth Coastguard said that coastguards from Spain, France, the U.S., as well as the Maersk Kampala, all coordinated in the response.  The seven men, who are a mixture of Russian, Polish and Ukranian, were eventually rescued by the containership Ocean Titan with no injuries.

The chemical tanker sustained little damage and was not taking water

“Satellite technology and modern communications made all the difference with this incident, meaning that we were able to pinpoint the location of the sinking ship, call the nearest vessel and coordinate a response within minutes,” said Falmouth Coastguard Watch Manager Terry Collins of the recue.

On February 26, 2011, the platform supply vessel SBS Typhoon made contact with the Vos Scout and the PSV Ocean Searcher while conducting tests of a newly installed Kongsberg DP system in Aberdeen Harbor.  The authorities in charge of the investigation, UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Bureau, have released the final report on the incident, citing an incorrect pitch command signal generated by the newly installed DP system as the culprit.

At 1524 (UTC) on 26 February 2011, the platform supply vessel (PSV) SBS Typhoon was undertaking functional trials of a newly installed dynamic positioning (DP) system while alongside in Aberdeen Harbour. Full ahead pitch was inadvertently applied to the port and starboard controllable pitch propellers (CPP), causing the ship to move along the quay. Contact was made with the standby safety vessel Vos Scout and the PSV Ocean Searcher, causing structural and deck equipment damage.

Ahead pitch was applied to the CPPs because an incorrect pitch command signal was generated by the DP system signal modules. The error was not identified during factory tests or during the pre-trial checks although the system documentation specified the correct signal values. Actions taken on board to limit damage were hampered by a defective engine emergency stop and because a mode selector switch on the DP system was not moved to the correct position.

CLICK HERE to download the final report from the Marine Accident Investigation Bureau.

Image from VesselTracker.com

So apparently this ship was carrying ore between India and China when it was hit by another ship, splitting it in two.  And the other ship ran away like nothing happened…

If anyone sees a ship in the Straits of Malacca missing it’s bow, please send us photos, or comment via the Forum thread…

Two Carnival cruise ships were involved in a minor collision in the Port of Key West Tuesday morning causing only minor cosmetic damage to both vessels.

The Carnival Imagination was moored and the Carnival Fantasy was mooring when the vessels struck stern to stern.  The USCG is investigating the incident, and has reported no injuries, pollution or structural damage.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Lt. Jeff Fry

WASHINGTON – Officers from the Coast Guard’s office of investigations and casualty analysis attended a hearing of the National Transportation Safety Board here today as the NTSB outlined findings and recommendations related to recent accidents involving Coast Guard vessels, including the fatal collision with a recreational boat in San Diego, December 2009, killing 8-year-old Anthony DeWeese.

“We want to thank the NTSB for its thorough investigation and insight on this accident.  Many of the findings in the NTSB investigation confirm the Coast Guard’s own investigation and study of the accident,” said Capt. David Fish, chief of the office of investigations and casualty analysis.  “We will continue to learn all that we can from their insight and thorough investigation as well as our own.”

In October 2010 the Coast Guard completed the Boat Operations Safety Review, which examined root causes and underlying issues of boat accidents.  The Coast Guard has already, as a result of the BOSR, established policy on the use of personal electronic devices on boats, continued to standardize boats for increased safety across platforms, and increased navigation training requirements for boat crews.  The service is also ensuring boat stations have the most suitable boats to appropriately carry out local missions.

“With a reputation as the nation’s premier maritime safety agency; our role is to protect the public.  We will continue to collaborate with the NTSB to improve the safety of our operations,” said Fish. “Serious boat accidents in the Coast Guard are rare and we are committed to preventing even a single occurrence.”

In response to previous NTSB recommendations the Coast Guard established enhanced oversight procedures that direct unit commanders to continuously evaluate the readiness of their boats and crews.  Regional commanders were also directed to conduct annual “Ready for Operations” evaluations to determine unit compliance with Coast Guard policies and procedures.

Source: USCG

photo by Rob Almeida / gCaptain.com

I was delivering a 40-foot sailboat up from Chesapeake Bay this week and as we were motoring past the shipping channels lanes leading in and out of New York, we found ourselves on a collision course with an outbound containership, the UASC SHUAIBA.

We were on course 050 at 7 knots and about 2.5 miles off the starboard bow of this big bastard, and after repeated hails on 16 and 13, I threw the helm over hard to port, but as I was doing that, his port running light slowly came into view and it was clear the mate on watch was turning to starboard in an effort to take my stern.

Fortunately the aggressiveness of my turn caught their attention and they swerved back to port, but damn, how about next time we all make it a point to keep the VHF radio turned on…