Capesize Casualty

So, the Antipodean Mariner has a new job. The downturn in the offshore Oil and Gas Industry saw corporate life leaving me in 2017, and another career reinvention. With two colleagues, we have started our own business as Marine Superintendents and which is successful. We do mainly do pre-Port State Control inspections for our Clients' ships with the occasional casualty to manage. Here's one of our success stories!

A Client's Capesize bulk carrier suffered a flooded Engine-room after an internal pipeline failure. Quick work by the ship's Engineers stopped the water ingress and got her generators back on line, but she was disabled in part-loaded condition on the loading terminal in cyclone season.

Water flooded to the Bottom Plates

Two of us flew to the ship and, with the Owner's blessing, took over the local casualty recovery to reestablish critical services - power, cooling water and fire fighting systems - and prepare the vessel for ocean tow to a Repair Yard. The water level in the Engine-room had inundated the crank case and the Main Engine was immobilised.

My partner Steve, a Chief Engineer, took on the Engine Room and I took on the preparation for tow. Together, we manged the daily communications with the Port State Control Authority, Harbormaster, Charterers and Terminal Operators.

The vessel was 'blocking' valuable out-loading capacity at the Terminal, and they wanted the ship off ASAP which required us to plan for two movements. The first was to get the Engine Room dry, services re-established and critical pumps operational. Working around the clock, electric motors were sourced to replace those immersed and cabling run to Distribution Boards. Using portable pumps, 1,110 cubic metres of sea water and oil were pumped into an empty ballast tank and the ballast system made watertight with cement boxes encased with steel plate.

With the vessel released from berth detention, an Anchor Handler was chartered to tow the 'dead ship' from the Terminal to anchorage with an escorting entourage of harbour tugs. The Pilots had practiced 'dead ship' towage in a Simulator, but this was their first live show.

With the Anchor Handler as a proxy Main Engine and four tugs made fast, we let go and got underway on a calm dawn morning for the expected six hour tow to open water.

Dead ship tow with the entourage

Safely anchored, the next task was to work out how to perform a 3,000 nautical mile tow to the Repair Yard. A Naval Architect's calculation has shown that the towing resistance in ocean conditions was twice the load the the mooring bitts were rated. Through a process of elimination, we identified the anchor chains has having the strength needed to perform the tow. However, to enable to vessel to anchor in an emergency, we had to leave one anchor ready for use.

The salvage tug chartered to perform the ocean tow arrived at the anchorage, and preparations got underway to rig the tow. The anchor was 'lassoed' with a mooring rope and decked on the salvage tug.

First, lasso your anchor...

With the chain safety in the Karm Forks, the cutting torch came out and the chain was cut for connection to the Tow Wire.

Decking the pick

With the tow connection made, regulatory approval to depart granted and a second tug made fast for the initial passage to clear a forming tropical cyclone, the anchor was heaved and the convoy put to sea.

Connected and ready to depart

The happy ending... the vessel was repaired, returned to the Terminal to finish loading and completed her voyage. We learned a lot about managing a casualty, lessons that we put to good use recently on another disabled ship. But that will be another Blog Post...

The Antipodean Mariner

15th September 2018

El Faro

In October 2015, the 1975-built US-flag container ro/ro vessel 'El Faro' was lost in the Caribbean with all hands  - 28 American crew and 5 Polish riding engineers performing maintenance on the vessel's boilers and steam propulsion system.

A short summary of the casualty are as follows; the vessel departed on her scheduled voyage from Jacksonville, Florida to Puerto Rico sailing ahead of a slow-moving hurricane. Losing her propulsion system and adrift, the storm overtook the vessel and she appears to have violently capsized. The vessel's wreck was found largely intact in 15,000 feet of water following a sonar survey.

El Faro's transom

An inquiry by the US NTSB has commenced, and with the discovery of the Voyage Data Recorder in a second ROV survey of the wreck the inquiry may be able to fill in crucial audio testimony of what happened on the bridge in the moments leading up to the vessels loss.

El Faro's VDR awaiting recovery

While the vessel was found largely intact on the seabed, the inquiry is focusing on the vessel's age (40 years at the time of her loss), her propulsion system (steam turbine) and life saving equipment (davit-launched open lifeboats).

Plenty has been written, blogged and opined on the relationship between the US Jones Act, the age of the US-flagged merchant fleet and the loss of 'El Faro'. The Antipodean Mariner has an opinion but will refrain from mounting his high horse until the final inquiry is concluded and published.

Tradewinds, a Norwegian maritime publication (probably the best news source in the shipping industry) has commissioned a Podcast series by Eric Martin, their US Bureau Chief. If you can't afford the US$2,035 annual subscription, the podcast 'The Sunken Lighthouse' is available on Soundcloud. At the time of posting, the first two episodes are available.

The podcasts provide a factual and balanced summary from maritime professionals, and are an excellent analysis.

I'll be following the inquiry and will repost anything that interests me.

The Antipodean Mariner

Amokura: the life of an unremarkable tanker

This is the story of the ship pictured on my blog's header - the motor tanker 'Amokura'.

She was an unremarkable tanker by most standards, but played formative part of my time at sea and development as a deck officer.

'Amokura' was built for Commons Brothers as 'Hindustan', at the Swan Hunter Yard in South Shields in 1976. She was Hull Number 91 from the Yard, IMO 7343346 and 32,240 deadweight tonnes. The rumour when my Company chartered her was that her original Owners had failed to complete her, and that the Yard had finished her with minimal expenditure. All of her deck and pumproom valves were manually operated. Her sister-ship, 'Kurdistan' was in the headlines when she broke in two in ice off Canada in 1979 while carrying heated bunker fuel. The bow section sank, while the stern was salvaged and rebuilt with a new bow.



I joined 'Amokura' as a 17-year old cadet in 1978, just after she had been chartered by an Oil Company consortium for service in the New Zealand coastal trade. She had been chartered to replace the tanker 'Athelviscount', a white-oiler with midship accommodation, which had reached scrapping age. Although 'Amokura' was built as a 'four grader', she was fitted with heating coils for the fuel oil trade and had been trading 'dirty' before repositioning to New Zealand. 'Amokura' was the Maori name for the bosun bird, and continued the tradition of naming the fleet after seabirds. My first job as cadet was to systematically cut off the steam coil valve chests, which were unceremoniously dumped over the side as each one was hacked into manageable chunks of piping and valves. During the mid-'80s she turned 'wide' entering the Port of Napier, and tore her hull open along three tanks against a wharf. The allision spilled hundred of tonnes of petrol into the harbour, miraculously there was no fire.

Over the course of 10 years, I sailed in her as Third, Second and First Officer. My wife Ali was introduced to the sea-going life on her, joining us for a dry-docking voyage as Supernumerary to Singapore as well as many coastal voyages during her university holidays. The photograph on my blog header came from the cover of the Tauranga Harbour Board's Annual Report.

In 1993, she had become outdated as more grades of fuels were introduced and shore tankage decreased. The Consortium made the decision to sell, she was delivered to new Owners in Sydney and renamed 'Transporter LT' . Over the following 14 years, she traded in products and then vegetable oils at 'Global Spirit', 'Global Spirit III' and then finally as 'Northsea'.

In early 2007, 'Northsea' was reported as being sold for demolition in India - an unsurprising end considering her age (31 years). However, in May 2007 after her apparent scrapping she was reported as a casualty in Lloyds List;

Northsea (Cambodian flag)
London, May 29 -- A distress message was received from product tanker Northsea, (18,682 gt, built 1976) at 0535, UTC, today in lat 04 44N, long 02 34E, following a fire on board. Seventeen of 32 crew have been accounted for. Crude oil tanker Toledo Spirit is in the area and crude oil tanker Astro Phoenix is proceeding to the area. Current condition of Northsea not known at the moment. Timed 0855, UTC: Toledo Spirit reports they have rescued 21 persons alive from Northsea and there are two fatalities. The vessel which is still afloat and is believed to have been struck by lightning.
London, May 29 -- Product tanker Northsea, XUJF9, in ballast, is being attended by crude oil tanker Toledo Spirit in lat 04 44N, long 02 34E. Distress vessel is on fire. Toledo Spirit sighted vessel on fire and closed to investigate and has rescued 21 persons so far and has sighted two deceased still in the water, nine persons still unaccounted for. Oil rig supply vessel onscene searching. Crude oil tanker Astro Pheonix on scene shortly. Refrigerated general cargo Adriatic on scene 1200, UTC.
London, May 29 -- Product tanker Northsea is now reported to be "burnt out." There were 29 persons on board of which 22 are alive, four are fatalities and three are missing. Twenty-one persons are now on board crude oil tanker Toledo Spirit, while one person, alive, and the four fatalities are on board offshore vessel Brago. The intention is for the 21 persons on board Toledo Spirit to be transferred to Brago which will then transfer all rescued persons and the fatalities to a sistership of Northsea, combined chemical and oil tanker April, which is en route from Ghana.
London, May 29 -- Northsea destroyed by fire and sinking. Offshore vessel Brago has recovered one crew memeber alive and four dead; three still missing.
London, May 29 -- Product tanker Northsea: Crude oil tanker Toledo Spirit has transferred 21 survivors to offshore vessel Brago who is now proceeding towards combined chemical and oil tanker April to transfer 22 survivors and four deceased. Three crew members remain missing, including the master. Toledo Spirit confirms that a thorough search has been carried out to a radius of seven nautical miles from the casualty in good weather conditions. Toledo Spirit and crude oil tanker Astro Pheonix are now resuming original tasking. The vessel remains sinking in its original position. (See issue of May 30.)
London, May 29 -- Product tanker Northsea. All survivors and deceased now transferred to supply vessel Brago who will meet the company vessel April for transfer ashore. Three crew members remain missing. The search is now terminated. All remaining search vessels may proceed in accordance with their previous orders with thanks for their efforts. All vessels transiting the area are to keep a sharp lookout. At 1530, UTC, Northsea was still on fire and submerged to her upperdeck level.
London, May 30 -- Product tanker Northsea: All survivors and deceased now transferred from supply Brago to combined chemical and oil tanker April. Search and rescue operations terminated at 0410, UTC, May 30.
London, May 31 -- Following received from the operators of product tanker Northsea, dated today: Northsea has now sunk. Three crew members remain missing.

It appeared that 'Northsea' had in fact cheated death on the beaches of Alang, and continued to trade in the West African ship-to-ship lightering business. With no inert gas system, the lightning strike on 'Northsea' ignited her cargo tanks and she sank after three days ablaze with the loss of seven of her crew. A remarkable end to an unremarkable ship.

The Antipodean Mariner