SAFE T Y
bit es REPOR T
Capital Clean Energy Carriers Corp. announced the delivery of the world’s first 22,000 cubic meter low-pressure LCO2 carrier, the Active, from Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co., Ltd.
Singapore posted record port performance in 2025, supported by resilient global trade and fuel offtake.
Under Saudi Arabia’s ‘Vision 2030’, expanding tourism along the Red Sea coast and the Gulf of Aqaba is a key strategy to diversify the economy away from fossil fuels. By 2030, these tourism hubs are expected to attract 19 million visitors annually.
South Korea has formally made Arctic shipping a national policy priority and will conduct its first container ship trial via the Northern Sea Route in September.
Briefings
Photo source: MCIB (image supplied by the vessel’s owner)
Investigation into fishing vessel Ben Thomas capsize and fatality
A crewmember died after the fishing vessel, Ben Thomas, capsized and sank off the Irish coast. A report into the incident, which took place two years ago, has been released by the Irish Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB), concluding the investigation.
The vessel was fitted with an EPIRB attached with another HRU. The type and operational limits of this HRU could not be confirmed as it remains attached to the vessel, but a typical HRU intended for use with an EPIRB is designed to operate within a water depth of 1.5 to 4m, similar to the liferaft’s HRU. A distress signal from this EPIRB was not received by the emergency services promptly after the vessel’s sinking; the EPIRB was recovered on the day after this vessel’s sinking, and it was transmitting then.
The nature of this fishing vessel’s operations in relatively shallow water within 1 NM of the shore, increased the likelihood of either its liferaft or EPIRB, or both, not deploying promptly in the event of the vessel sinking.
Neither crewmember was carrying a PLB when this capsize occurred. There is no record that a PLB had been issued to any crewmember. The loss of life of one crewmember, and the threat to the life of another crewmember, occurred because of a combination of the following factors:
- Inadequate safety systems for the operation of this vessel. - The failure to wear PFDs. - The failure of the liferaft to inflate. - The failure of the Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) to operate promptly.
- The omission of Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs). - Cold water immersion.
The cause of the capsize and sinking of the FV Ben Thomas is likely to have been the overturning effects of a heavily laden dredge cage as it was being recovered onboard. A contributory factor is likely to have been the vessel’s low level of residual stability at this stage of the fishing operations.
Mike Hall, previously Deputy CEO of the Britannia Group, has been promoted to CEO following the departure of Andrew Cutler.
The Canal & River Trust, the national charity caring for 2,000 miles of waterways in England and Wales, has announced that Tim Hunter has joined as the charity’s interim fundraising director in February 2026.
The stability of the FV Ben Thomas was last evaluated by means of a rolling period test, carried out on the 25 June 2021 during the CoP survey. The CoP survey’s DoC indicates that the vessel complied with the CoP’s stability requirements. However:
- The details of any vessel modifications undertaken following the 2021 CoP survey could not be confirmed.
- The data recorded for the rolling test does not include details to show positive evidence of compliance with the CoP. The vessel was outside the dimensional parameters intended for the CoP’s stability formula, thereby requiring that “special care” should be applied in the circumstances. Despite this, the formula was used to determine this vessel’s stability parameters apparently without question, without evidence recorded in the test report of what special care was applied.
- The approach taken in the CoP to determining a vessel’s stability does not recognise that landing the catch is a condition that will produce the lowest values for a vessel’s stability parameters.
Download the report at
https://bit.ly/4sQJe8b. 38 | ISSUE 115 | MAR 2026 | THE REPORT
The Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA) has announced the new leadership of its board of directors. David Carver, president of General Dynamics NASSCO, has moved up from vice chairman to chairman of the SCA board.
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