Tag: hazardous weather at sea

Heavy weather caused the vessel to roll and pitch despite the master’s efforts to alleviate the motion by altering course and speed. This set in motion a “domino effect” whereby cargo units progressively broke free and shifted, resulting in extensive damage to ship structure and cargo, with a number of units being lost overboard.

Xiamen has introduced the 'Marine Traffic Safety Regulation', which has come into force on 1 March 2018, and imposes that the maritime administration department shall take traffic control measures at specific sea areas during specific period in the event of heavy weather, the UK Club informed citing Huatai correspondents.

On 20 November 2016 at about 0850, the general cargo ship Saga Sky collided with the rock carrying barge Stema Barge II, approximately 2 miles off the south coast of the UK, as a result from adverse weather conditions created by Storm Angus. As a consequence, 2 subsea power cables were severed. The UK MAIB issued an investigation report on the accident.

The drilling ship 'West Taurus' broke off her mooring due to strong winds caused by the storm Emma, drifted and eventually hit the container ship 'Spica' while the latter was berthed in Santa Cruz, Port de Tenerife, on Wednesday late night.

Mariners are encouraged to ensure boating gear is properly stowed or tied down to avoid causing unnecessary searches by the Coast Guard and other first responders. Life jackets, life rafts and small non-powered vessels are examples of boating equipment often found adrift following severe weather.

Greece closed the Corinth canal on Monday, temporarily blocking the transit route for ships, due to a rockfall that followed heavy rain. The 6.4-km canal serves about 11,000 vessels a year, mainly commercial ships and pleasure yachts, offering a short transit from southern Italy to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

In UK Club's latest 'Lessons Learned' article, Capt. David Nichol describes a case of a hydraulic oil spill during cargo unloading operations in a heavy weather, highlighting the importance of crews' quick and effective response to avoid major pollution incidents.

On the aftermath of a recent incident involving death of a tow vessel Captain, the USCG issued a Safety Alert to remind commercial towing and salvage operators to assess operational risks at all times and continually reassess risks based on weather, equipment, experience, and evolving conditions on-scene.

The vessel 'Immensity' was heading to Limassol, Cyprus from Antwerp, Belgium, carrying 8,062 metric tonnes of general cargo, including logs on deck, when the chief mate suffered injuries after falling to the deck due to inclement weather. The cause of the accident was a high energy trauma caused by exposure to green seas on deck.

North China is experiencing record low temperatures this season, and specially low temperatures in the past 2 weeks, posing a threat to safe navigation due to icy sea condition in the area. The key ports affected are those in the Liaodong Bay area, from Dalian to Huludao, Panjin, Bayuquan, Jinzhou and Dandong.