The Swedish P&I Club Monthly Safety Scenario for January 2014
The Swedish P&I Club published its Monthly Safety Scenario for January 2014 regarding cargo liquefaction in heavy weather. The Swedish Club publishes on a monthly basis a new “Monthly Safety Scenario” (MSS) to assist owners in their efforts of complying with the above regulations.
Cargo liquefaction in heavy weather
It was August and the vessel was loading iron ore in Indonesia, to be discharged in Vancouver. It had been raining heavily for two weeks. The site where the vessel was loading was a pier on an island. The iron ore mine was further inland on the island and the ore was transported by barge and loaded onto the vessel. When loading was complete the Master was given a loading certificate from the shipper which indicated that the cargo had a moisture level which was 2% below the TML (Transportable Moisture Limit).
During loading a surveyor had been present for the owners account and had done moisture tests on the cargo using the can method and not in a laboratory. The shipper stated that they had used the onsite laboratory for the moisture test. During the stay in port the vessel’s engineers carried out some maintenance on the main engine turbocharger. The job was completed a couple of hours before departure. The Master received information that there would be heavy weather during the Pacific crossing.
He did not think it would be of any real concern for the vessel so he did not change the planned great circle route. This route would take the vessel about 60 miles south of the predicted storm path. The master had sailed on the Pacific for many years and knew that the vessel should not have a problem sailing this route. The manager did not use any professional weather routing service but relied on the Master’s experience.
After a couple of days the storm took a more southerly path and the vessel started to encounter strong winds at beaufort 8, from a NE direction. The vessel reduced speed to minimize the impact of the waves which had become very large.
The turbocharger for the main engine suddenly failed. This caused the main engine to stop and the vessel suffered a blackout. The vessel was now pitching and rolling a lot because of the large waves. With great difficulty the engineers managed to dismantle the turbocharger, it was found that a bearing had failed and caused severe damage to the compressor and turbine-rotating parts. It was impossible to do the required repairs because of the vessel’s heavy pitching and rolling. The master could not steer the vessel into the wind because of the blackout. The vessel started to drift.
The vessel started to list to the starboard side. It was obvious that something was wrong as thevessel didn’t return to an upright position and continued to list more to starboard.
To learn more, read The Swedish P&I Club’sMonthly Safety Scenario – January 2014 Cargo liquefaction in heavy weather
Find more information about previous Monthly Safety Scenarios by The Swedish Club in the articles
