Maritime News

Preliminary findings from the marine casualty resulting in a stevedore being fatally injured by falling into the cargo hold of a container ship, revealed that a safety railing was in poor condition and badly corroded, and may have contributed to the fall of the stevedore. Although the corroded safety railing had been
identified as a task to be carried out on board, there were no safeguards or warning signs in place to warn personnel in the vicinity of its condition.

In a separate incident, a crew member on a container ship fell from a height of almost 20 metres when the base plate of the crane cabin he had just entered gave way. Preliminary findings revealed that the base plate was severely corroded. Although the company’s planned maintenance system covered inspection of cranes, the corrosion of the base plate had not been detected .

Due to a label error, Marlin Australia PTY, Ltd. has recalled lot 14442C1 of PFDs approved by the US Coast Guard under approval numbers 160.055/215/0 and 160.055/216/0.

Adult Model 320RT (160.055/215/0) incorrectly lists a minimum buoyant force of 32 pounds; the correct minimum buoyant force is 22 pounds. Child Model 321RT (160.055/216/0) incorrectly lists a minimum buoyant force of 16 pounds; the correct minimum buoyant force is 11 pounds. Figure 1 shows the incorrect Adult Model 320RT label.

Both models have been manufactured in accordance with US Coast Guard regulations and standards and continue to perform as approved. Although the recalled PFDs are incorrectly marked,
they still meet the minimum buoyancy requirement for a Type I PFD approved under 46 CFR 160.055, Mislabeled PFDs may continue to be used as long as they are in serviceable condition.

This IMCA safety newsletter addresses a number of incidents on lifeboat and rescue boats and davits and acts as a constant reminder of the hazards in launching and recovery of boats.

The 101st session of the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC 101) was held at the IMO in London, U.K. from 5 to 14 June 2019. Since the minutes, resolutions and circulars of the meeting were recently released from the IMO, a summary of the decisions taken at MSC 101 is provided here.

In order to comply with the new sulphur limit for fuel oil used on board ships taking effect from 1 January 2020, fuel oils with a sulphur content of 0.50% or less (hereafter, referred to as "compliant fuel oils") will be distributed globally for bunkering. Consequently, the number of occasions where fuels for main engines or auxiliary engines are changed from conventional fuel oils to compliant fuel oils and used will increase.

ClassNK has released a booklet containing precautions concerning the change-over to compliant fuel oils with an aim to provide crew members on board ships going to bunker and use compliant fuel oils with information focusing on the "compatibility" and "cold flow properties" of such fuels as well as the risks associated with such fuels and the measures to be taken to mitigate such risks.