Australian Maritime Safety Authority recently detained a Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship for serious and repeated safety and pollution prevention related failures.
In fact, the vessel called “BBC Rio” operated by JP Alliance Ship Management has been banned from all the Australian ports for 3 months.
According to AMSA, the ship was detained on 18 August 2020 in Bunbury, Western Australia following a routine inspection which revealed 20 deficiencies.
This resulted in the immediate detention of the vessel.
For the records, the above-mentioned deficiencies ranged from serious electrical hazards, faulty fuel oil leak alarms, defective forepeak tank head, a defective bridge window, a broken sewage treatment plant and significant oil accumulation in the engine room, AMSA added.
In light of the above, AMSA General Manager of Operations Allan Schwartz noted that this is the operator’s second run-in with authorities in Australia this year.
A sister ship, BBC Rainbow, operated by JP Alliance Ship Management was also detained by AMSA in Bunbury on 12 February 2020 for similar failures relating to safety and pollution prevention. The operator was issued with a formal letter warning that should BBC Rainbow or another ship in its fleet be caught with serious deficiencies in Australian waters again, that it may attract more serious regulatory action.
Furthermore, BBC Rio was in a similar sub-standard condition, putting the safety of the seafarers on board the ship and Australia’s marine environment at risk.
The message to industry couldn’t be clearer. Sub-standard ships will not be tolerated in Australian waters, which is why this week we have issued a three-month ban to BBC Rio. JP Alliance Ship Management has been advised to take appropriate action to improve the maintenance and upkeep of its ships.
….as Allan Schwartz added.
Concluding, BBC Rio rectified the most serious safety deficiencies while detained in Bunbury and was permitted to offload its remaining cargo in Adelaide, South Australia as scheduled to avoid any disruption to cargo operations.
