Tag: Bahamas Maritime Authority

The Bahamas Maritime Authority issued a bulletin advising the actions to be taken when Bahamian ships are subject to Port State or Flag State detention. The guidance is applicable to all Bahamian ships that have been detained by PSC authorities, including “Administrative” or preventative detentions.

The Bahamas maritime Authority issued a guidance on the management of Port State Control inspections, to ensure that companies operating Bahamian ships comply with international Convention requirements and national regulations of the PSC process, and to maintain the position of Bahamian flag in the white performance list.

While the vessel was in laden condition, waiting for the cargo documents and pre‐departure underwater inspection, the patrolling deck crew noticed four unknown people on the deck near the starboard quarter around 2212 hours. The OOW was informed immediately and the general alarm was raised.

The Bahamas Maritime Authority Guidance and Instructions for Bahamian ships, regarding the incident reporting and investigations, whose purpose is to provide lessons learned for the future, as an unreported incident potentially decreases the possibility of improving safety.

The Bahamas Maritime Authority issued a technical alert to highlight issues concerning sprinkler heads, related to leaking bulbs and external corrosion effects, which can impair the automatic release of the sprinkler head.

The Bahamas Maritime Authority issued a bulletin providing guidance on making Oil Record Book entries and related procedural matters, and confirming BMA requirements in respect of the Oil Record Book Part I and associated entries.

The Bahamas Maritime Authority issued an alert, to draw attention on a change in the launching procedure for HLB Co. Ltd. TALON II 4.0, TALON II 6.0 and TALON 9.0 lifeboat on load release systems, as described in Revision 10 of the Operation and Maintenance Manual for Release Mechanism.

The Bahamas Maritime Authority issued a technical alert, to highlight major deficiencies related to fuel oil quick closing valves, during Port State Control inspections. These deficiencies are considered very important and generally lead to detention.

The Bahamas Maritime Authority issued a technical alert related to detentions and deficiencies found during USCG examination of cruise ships. During 2016, USCG reported a total of 103 detentions, of which 3 were cruise ships.

The Bahamas Maritime Authority reminds that the format of existing Garbage Record Books is subject to amendments, therefore, from 01 March 2018, the new Garbage Record Book Part I shall be provided. Also, the new Garbage Record Book Part II shall  be provided to record discharge of cargo residues for ships that carry solid bulk cargoes. Garbage Record Books are required to be in the format specified in the Appendix to MARPOL Annex V.