Lessons Learnt: Enclosed Space Fatality
20/09/2017
As discharge of a cargo of coal progressed, the level in one of the cargo holds had lowered to the point where stevedores needed to enter for cargo trimming operations using bulldozers.
The Club has recently been advised of the amendments to Turkish Law in relation to drug smuggling; of particular note is the confiscation of vehicles which has been summarised in the attached bulletin.
UK Club correspondents have issued a circular on the low Sulphur fuel requirement to be implemented in all ports within Zhejiang ECA, China which include Ningbo, Zhoushan, Jiaxing, Taizhou, etc. from 1st Sep 2017.
The Club has recently been notified by our correspondent in China, Huatai, of Typhoons "HATO" and "PAKAR", which landed in southern China on 23rd and 27th August 2017 respectively.
A bulk carrier received instructions to anchor in a designated port anchorage area occupied by other vessels
The Club's Loss Prevention team, in conjunction with Witherby Publishing have just released a new training guide for crew on "Survival craft release and retrieval systems."
This vessel was loading a bulk cargo in two of the vessel's lower holds. During the loading operation, the vessel bunkered 500 MT of HFO into no.'s 2 port and starboard fuel oil side tanks. Shortly after the completion of bunkering operations, the Chief Engineer (C/E) noticed the level of no.2 port fuel oil tank was decreasing from observation of the remote gauging system.
A UK P&I Club Member recently reported the death of two crew members. The crew were found unresponsive onboard, apparently suffering from heat stroke. Sadly, particularly at this time of year, this is not an isolated incident.
Sophia Bullard, Crew Health Programme Director at UK P&I Club, discusses the importance of knowing the signs of heat stroke.
This fully laden bulk carrier was on passage in the Mediterranean Sea during winter. Whilst the seamen were handling the hose on the starboard side, a wave was shipped onto the main deck, sweeping them heavily against the adjacent cargo hold hatch coamings. Both sustained multiple injuries requiring the vessel to deviate to land the seamen ashore for urgent hospital treatment.
Lessons Learnt: Oil spill during bunkering
26/07/2017
This was a very poorly planned bunkering operation from the outset with an almost complete neglect of the company SMS procedures. The bunkering checklist was ticked off but not in fact implemented.
Lessons Learnt: Serious eye injury to fitter
20/07/2017
Whilst the vessel was at anchor waiting to berth, one of the engine room fitters was instructed by the Chief Engineer to fabricate a set of locking pins for the anchor cable stoppers. It was planned that the work would take place in the engine room workshop and involve the use of an angle grinder for which the fitter had the choice of an electrical or pneumatically powered tool.
The subject vessel was berthed on a NNE heading, port side to an exposed quay for cargo discharge operations. In the early morning, the wind was observed to increase in strength from the NW. The Master ordered the crew to deploy additional mooring ropes, with the final arrangement reported to be 4 head/stern lines, 2 breast lines and 2 spring lines forward and aft.
Linda Wright, claims executive at UK P&I Club advises on what to do when death occurs at sea.
Hong Kong will introduce their own regulation to require vessels plying Hong Kong waters to use cleaner fuel from January 2019 to complement the efforts under the PRC's Ministry of Transport's action plan for the Hong Kong, Macau and PRD (Pearl River Delta).
A shipyard pipe fitter was tasked with disassembling a section of steam piping in the engine room. He was not expected to read the repair specification for the job but instead he was to receive general repair guidance from his foreman, who did have a copy of the repair specification.
Risk Focus: Consolidated 2017
06/07/2017
With its team of risk assessors, the UK Club is in a unique position to gather data and target areas of risk onboard ships.
Bodily Injury News- Summer 17 edition
29/06/2017
Welcome to this summer edition of Bodily Injury News that reports on some of the latest legal and practical developments observed by our Bodily Injury Team in the US.
Mental health affects crew of all ages, nationalities and ranks. A recent analysis of crew mental health revealed anxiety, social isolation, pressure of work and disturbed sleep can affect crew, all of which can negatively influence their mental health.
Burn injury to engineer
12/06/2017
Vessel Type: Tanker