LONDON P&I CLUB REVEALS KEY CAUSES OF RECENT CONTAINER LOSS CLAIMS
A recent run of container loss claims by the London P&I Club has highlighted some of the common contributory factors that emerge as part of the investigation process. The Club noted that the subject of misdeclared container weights continues to be a problem. But with this particular run of claims it was the attending surveyor’s observations about cargo securing equipment that caught the eye.
In these cases, it became clear that several manual twist locks were not correctly locked at the time of the incident. The causes for this were considered to be two-fold – some twist locks were damaged (specifically with locking levers either bent or missing), or the units in service were a mixture of right and left-hand locking units, leading to confusion over the observed status of the twist lock.
Upon investigation, a number of container corner castings and container foundations showed no signs of having a locked twist lock forcibly removed during the collapse, the natural conclusion being that the twist locks were in those cases in the unlocked position. It was also evident that in some cases the degree of wastage of deck/hatch container foundations was such that they were no longer serviceable. As a result, even the best maintained twist lock cannot properly contribute to the planned securing arrangement.
Owners are reminded of the need to ensure that container lashing and securing equipment (including fixed fittings) are included in the ship’s planned maintenance system. It is further recommended that at the same time, the ship’s equipment is all checked for consistency against the provisions of the ship’s prescribed cargo securing equipment inventory within the cargo securing manual.
IMPROPER SECURING ARRANGEMENT OF SEA STRAINER COVER LEADS TO VESSEL CAPSIZING
Shipowners P&I Club has issued a case study about the capsizing of a vessel due to a loose port side sea strainer. Whilst double banked alongside another tug for four months awaiting a placement in dry dock, a harbour tug suddenly developed a list to port. Crew on board at the time quickly investigated to try and determine the point of water ingress, but struggled as the water level reached approximately 1 metre in height in the flooded engine room.
As the engine room crew tried to establish and stop the source of ingress, the deck crew were adjusting the mooring ropes to keep the vessel safely alongside as the vessel listed further to port. Eventually, the master took the decision to abandon the vessel as it was no longer safe to remain on board.
A salvage operation was completed, and upon investigation, the point of water ingress was identified as a loose port side sea strainer cover.
Fuel and other oils had been removed from the vessel in preparation for the upcoming dry docking, consequently, there was no pollution from the vessel.
The deck crew were able to release the mooring ropes from the neighbouring vessel prior to abandoning, avoiding additional damage.
No personal injuries resulted from the incident.
On the port side sea strainer, only one of the eight wing nuts was found to be in place and standard nuts had been used on the other seven bolts, therefore the securing arrangement had lost most of its integrity. The bolts were also found to be rusty and general condition of the sea strainer was poor.
Completion of tasks such as securing of the sea strainer covers should be suitably supervised by a competent person as required by company procedures and the relevant task risk assessment.
16 | The Report • June 2018 • Issue 84
Safety Briefings
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