During a voyage of M/V Gorgonilla from Gibraltar via the Kiel Canal to Kalundborg, after passing the locks in Brunsbüttel there was a blackout and a shutdown of the main engine. The vessel went alongside in Brunsbüttel 08.02.2010. The ships crew announced the very poor technical condition of the ship and asked for help and support. On the same day an overriding PSC inspection has been carried out.
This post is an extract from EMSA’s publication “Addressing Illegal Discharges in the Marine Environment” focusing on the various ways oily waste are being produced onboard vessels. The volume of oily waste generated and/or stored on board a vessel depends on various factors. These include, for example type, age and size of vessel; type and age of equipment related to oil separation and storage; maintenance of vessel and equipment and external factors such as availability of Port Reception Facilities.
This incident refers to the contamination of a ship’s main engine by seawater. The engine room bilges became flooded due to a leaking sea water pipe. Proper actions were not taken when the alarm sounded, so the leakage was first discovered when water had reached the engine room floor plates. Consequently, the leakage was stopped, bilges emptied and the ship resumed its voyage. Shortly after resuming the voyage, the main engine stopped due to low lubrication oil pressure.
Before loading the cargo hold of a bulk carrier or a general cargo, appropriate inspections should be conducted in order to ensure that all the systems related to the cargo hold are in good working order. One of the key common issues is the cleaning of the hold from cargo residues. Various debris have the “ability” to find their way into the systems of hold bilges making manual removal of such debris imperative. Debris (especially foodstuff) which have been left in the bilges will decay over time giving some of the most unpleasant smells. Hold bilges are usually cleaned using a shovel and afterwards they must be lifted out of the hold. Once the bilge area has been cleaned the next thing to do is to verify and ensure that the rest of the hold bilge systems are in good working order. Therefore the following should be checked and tested if possible: bilge sounding pipes, bilge suctions, bilge non return valves.
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Officer of the Watch 