Amendments to the US Coast Guard Marine Casualties and Investigations; Chemical Testing Following Serious Marine Incident regulations come into force 20 June 2006. The amendments to the regulations requiring testing for drug and alcohol use by persons involved in serious marine incidents (SMIs), requires that alcohol testing of people directly involved in the incident be conducted within 2 hours of its occurrence. This rule also requires most commercial vessels to have alcohol testing devices on board and authorises the testing of saliva as an acceptable specimen for alcohol testing. A 32-hour time limit for the collection of specimens for drug testing following a serious marine incident has also been included.
Following the outbreak of Avian Influenza (H5N1) in Asia and Europe, the Hong Kong Marine Department have issued health advice for ship masters, persons-in-charge of vessels and crew.
The UK Club has recently dealt with several crew illness cases arising from diseases that are readily preventable. The average cost of medical treatment and repatriation in such cases is about US$10,000, but more serious cases can sometimes give rise to costs of ten times that amount. In addition, owners may incur the expenses of substitution of the sick crewmember and loss of hire if the vessel is delayed.
A Member's ship recently experienced a fire in a coal cargo which was discovered on arrival at the discharge port. Records show that the oxygen and carbon monoxide levels as measured by the crew were at acceptable levels for the major part of the voyage. However, the investigation found that the atmosphere tests had been conducted outside the ventilator openings on the hatch covers and the readings therefore bore no relevance to the atmosphere in the holds.
429 - 09/05 - Asian Gypsy Moth - Australia
31/08/2005
An incident recently occurred aboard a Member's ship when a crewmember suffered serious injury. Human error dominates the underlying causes of major claims and many of these claims could be prevented if crew are properly briefed and supervised in their work.
433 - 09/05 - Garbage Pollution - Australia
31/08/2005
Further to Bulletin 382 Members are reminded of the strict enforcement of the regulations of the Australian authorities in respect of garbage pollution. The Club has recently been made aware of a case in New South Wales where a recent court judgement has found owners liable for a fine of A$24,000 (US$ 18,331).
Two crewmembers died in a recent incident onboard a VLCC discharging crude oil. Around midnight on the day of the incident, the chief officer (C/O) encountered problems pumping cargo from the tanks and the vessel was instructed to locate the reason for the loss in suction. The C/O suspected this to be due to a leaking dresser coupling on the cargo line in the centre tank. Once the tank atmosphere was released onto the open deck and the tank pressure reduced, a suction sound from within the tank indicated a leak in the cargo line.
A crewmember onboard a Member vessel is lucky to be alive after a recent incident involving gas cutting equipment where the work was thought to be routine and not properly planned. Approximately 35% of the crewmember's body sustained burns of partial to deep partial thickness, with some full thickness involvement to areas including the face, chest, back, arms and legs.
TB18 - Helicopter Ops
27/07/2005
The UK Club finds, through its large claims analysis, that the majority of personal injury claims are trip/fall incidents onboard and the major cause is input from the crews themselves. This bulletin highlights a recent incident onboard a Member's vessel, which has left a shipyard worker with severe injuries which he may not recover from.
The case described below highlights the need for shipowners to carry out proper risk assessments so that the master and his officers have guidance on how to devise and execute an appropriate plan with regard to the rescue of a person in the water when weather conditions do not permit the launching of a rescue craft.
424 - 07/05 - Orders under Pilotage
30/06/2005
The Club would like to highlight to Members a case where a ship ran aground on a mud/sand patch just south of Bradleys Head light in the middle of Sydney Harbour. When the ship came to an intended course alteration position in the harbour east of Bradleys Head, the pilot initiated the turn to starboard to round the headland. He firstly ordered 5° starboard rudder and then, when the ship did not respond quickly enough, he increased the order to starboard 10°. The rate of swing increased markedly and so the pilot ordered port 20° to slow the swing. The seaman on the wheel confirmed the order as port 20° and instead applied starboard 20° wheel. Before the consequences of this error could be corrected, the ship ran aground on a mud/sand patch just south of the light on the southern end of the headland.
Alert! 8 - Testing times for the crew
30/06/2005
415 - 05/05 - Fatal Fall in Engine Room
31/05/2005
A recent incident highlights the need for Members to be aware that when shipping plastic scraps, metal scraps and other wastes to China, the shipper must be registered to do so. Without a registration certificate, such cargoes cannot be cleared through Chinese Customs as per import regulations on scrap which came into force 08 May 2004.
416 - 06/05 - Scrap/Waste Imports - China
31/05/2005
A recent incident highlights the need for Members to be aware that when shipping plastic scraps, metal scraps and other wastes to China, the shipper must be registered to do so. Without a registration certificate, such cargoes cannot be cleared through Chinese Customs as per import regulations on scrap which came into force 08 May 2004.