Last month Faststream released a report regarding perceptions of maritime professionals around various position in the maritime industry as well as beliefs on salaries and career development. The report was developed by approximately 2000 responses, including 612 serving mariners.
A vessel was undergoing a periodical survey by a DNV class surveyor. A total of 19 air vent heads (mostly from ballast tanks) were found to be defective and the surveyor requested the master to repair this before leaving port. This example is taken from a DNV case but defective vent heads (sometimes also called air pipe closing devices) are frequently found in ship surveys, so this example is by no means unique.
The North P&I Club has published during the previous month a new loss prevention guide for watchkeepers on how to avoid collisions at sea. Designed specifically for use on ship’s bridges, it focuses on what the Club considers to be the most important ‘rules of the road’ in the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea 1972 (COLREGS).
According to Fitch’s Ratings Russian oil production will probably peak in the next few years as the gains from new oil fields are offset by falling output from brownfield sites. The ratings agency said Russia posted another post-Soviet oil production record in 2012, but added that significant new exploration, in particular on the Russian continental shelf, would be required over many years to increase output further.
During deballasting of a cargo hold (ballast hold) by gravity, the hatch cover, coamings, and the deck in way of and between hatches suffered major structural damage. The hatch covers were found set down about 100 mm, measured at the transverse joints of the forward and aft panels.
During the End of 2012 GL and DNV announced their agreement to merge. The new entity will be called DNV GL Group. The merge will create the third-largest certification, inspection and testing business for industries such as shipping, oil and gas, and renewable energy. Its global headquarters will be at Høvik outside of Oslo. The merger may be effective by the second quarter.
The problem of hazardous chemicals in shipping containers has become a topic of major concern over the last 10 years. The combination of sealed containers and long journey times means that hazardous chemicals can build to a level that would never normally be encountered in domestic or industrial settings. The problem is exacerbated by the massive variety in chemicals involved, the origin of many containers in countries with less strict health and safety controls, and the often poor documentation accompanying the containers.
The vessel was discharging a cargo of crude oil when she was arrested for leaking oil. When divers were called in, it was verified that the source of leakage was the oil/ballast (O/B) overboard line from the oil discharging monitoring (ODM) system.
The following article was initially published in SAFETY4SEA by Apostolos Belokas Managing Editor of SAFETY4SEA. On January the 3rd of 2006 the US Authorities released the investigation report of the M/T Bow Mariner investigation. It was a shocking thing to read throughout the report and realize that many items were found to be out of order. Let aside the key finding : Root cause of the incident was the failure of the operator to properly implement SMS. Five years later, same day the US Authorities released the preliminary report of the findings of the investigation of the Deepwater Horizon Incident.
IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee (MSC), which met at the Organization’s London Headquarters for its 91st session from 26 to 30 November 2012 adopted a number of amendments to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), including a new mandatory requirement for new ships to be constructed to reduce on-board noise and to protect personnel from noise; and considered a range of other issues, including piracy and armed robbery against ships and other items submitted by the IMO sub-committees.
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Officer of the Watch 