Appearing in court on Tuesday, the Captain of the ill-fated MV Wakshio, which ran aground and split in two causing a major oil spill off Mauritius less than seven months ago, confirmed that he navigated the vessel closer to the shore to look for internet connection for the crew.
Almost seven months after the Japanese capsize bulk carrier MV Wakashio ran aground in an environmentally sensitive area off Mauritius, several scenarios as to what led to the incident have come to the surface, but an official cause of the accident is yet to be determined.
As part of its BSafe campaign, Britannia P&I Club describes a case of a lone watchkeeping grounding. While on passage at night, a 2,281gt general cargo ship ran aground on the pentland skerries in the eastern entrance of the pentland firth, Scotland, sustaining significant hull damage.
The Sri Lankan Navy saved 18 crew members from the Liberia-flagged bulk carrier MV Eurosun, which ran aground off the coast of Sri Lanka on 23 January.
Amid a growing debate on the causes of the Wakashio grounding, British satellite analytics company Geollect, has made new revelations about the final journey of the Japanese bulk carrier, six months after it caused a large oil spill off Mauritius.
Following a similar statement by oil major BP, Japanese shipping company MOL also expressed its disagreement with a media analysis on the Wakashio incident, claiming “misleading interpretation of unconnected information” and “seriously flawed conclusions”.
Misinterpretation of navigational information led to the grounding of the Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue (RCMSAR) vessel ‘Spirit of Sooke’ near Sooke, British Columbia, said the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) in its investigation report on the incident.
Claims arising from incidents involving vessels under pilotage have exceeded US $1.8 billion in the 20 years between 1999 and 2019, according to data by the International Group of P&I Clubs (IG Clubs).
Following the Wakashio grounding on 25th July 2020, Japanese shipowner MOL stated that the probable cause of the incident was the crew’s unsafe behaviors due to overconfidence that stems from complacency, while issued safety measures to prevent such incidents in the future.
According to reports, a containership grounded in the Suez Canal on November 26, when it lost power, interrupting the flow of traffic. Specifically, the containership Al Muraykh lost power and grounded in the southbound traffic lanes. Although 24 vessels that were ahead of the grounded vessel continued their voyage, nine other southbound vessels were caught behind the ship. The northbound convoy was also reportedly suspended.
