A fire broke out in the engine room on board a tanker, beached in Chittagong, on February 18, killing two workers. According to information, the two men died while scrapping the ship Greek Warrior at Shagorika Ship Breaking Yard. One of the men was burned and rushed to Chittagong Medical College Hospital, but he died before reaching the hospital. The body of the second man was discovered on board a few hours later.
The Government of Luxembourg’s AET issued a report on the fatal occupational accident on the chemical oil tanker Nabucco on 26 June 2017. The Chief Officer was working alone on the platform of the accommodation ladder, when he fell between the vessel and the quay into the water.
The BSEE issued an investigation report on the fire onboard a Petrobras drillship during pipe handling operations in December 2017, which resulted in one fatality. The report identified poor compliance with procedures and lack of understanding for the drill floor zone areas during operations as key causes of the accident.
The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued an investigation report on the sinking of the towing vessel ‘Ricky Robinson’ on the Lower Mississippi River, in December 2017, which caused death of the two crewmen onboard, oil discharge and significant damage of the vessel.
Ocean Infinity informed that it has successfully located the wreck of the lost South Korean tanker, Stellar Daisy. The ship was found 3461 meters deep in the South Atlantic Ocean, approximately 1800 nautical miles due west of Cape Town. Stellar Daisy sank on 31 March 2017, while transporting iron ore from Brazil to China. As a result, 22 of the 24 crew died.
According to the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency, the boating year 2018 continued until late autumn and claimed the lives of 51 boaters. The accidents followed a pattern of a small boat, older man and cottage shore. The renewed Water Transport Act now gives more emphasis on life vests and other floating equipment.
A number of cruise boats under the same fleet have been raided by police and marine safety inspectors, in connection with the death of a passenger aboard the vessel Lady Rose the previous weekend. Emergency services were called to a marina in Balmain just after on February 2, after the 39-year-old was found unconscious in the bathroom cubicle of the three-level vessel.
The Swedish Club provides lessons learned from a fatal accident on board a bulk carrier. Namely, an AB had connected a fire hose to a fire hydrant and was spraying water, while also wearing a safety harness. At that time the hatch covers were open. As the harness became tangled with the fire hose, the AB briefly unhooked it. However, the pressure in the water led him to lose his balance and fall 16 metres down into the cargo hold.
In its latest cargo claims review, the Swedish Club informs of a fatal accident of a stevedore, that was caused because of lack of safety measures when working in the vessel’s cargo hold. After two stevedores finished their job in a cargo hold, they had to climb a vertical ladder, a spiral staircase and another vertical ladder to exit the cargo hold. Finally, one of the stevedores died by falling from the last ladder, as he climbed it with one hand and didn’t wear a safety harness.
On January 28, a Dutch seafarer had a fatal accident, falling aboard the specialized fallpipe vessel ‘Simon Stevin’. Officials in Bruges, Belgium, are for the time being investigating the death of the seafarer, who was operating a crane using a remote control unit. Although he was immediately taken to the hospital, he did not survive.
