On 2nd July 2012 the Antigua and Barbuda registered cargo ship Coastal Isle was en route from Belfast to Greenock when at 0500hrs in the morning it grounded at Garroch Point on the southern coast of the Island of Bute. The vessel grounded due to the fact that the chief officer on watch left the bridge to go to the toilet.
On 27 February 2010 the Finnish flagged vessel Global Carrier was on a routine voyage from Turku, Finland bound for Oxelösund, Sweden with a cargo of semitrailers and trucks. There was dense fog in the archipelago but pilot assistance was not considered because the Master was licensed to carry out piloting. The Master had previous experience of this fairway in similar visibility conditions. During a Global Carrier’s maneuver the vessel collided with the moored MV Ecostar G.O.
On 25 July 2007 the MV Captain Blue loaded with cement bags, sent a distress alert to JRCC (Joint Rescue and Coordination Centre) Piraeus reporting a starboard list of four degrees west of Kefalonia Island at the Ionian Sea. Following the appropriate actions from the Hellenic SAR Authorities, the ship was towed safely in the port of Kefalonia Island. The master reported to the local Coast Guard Authority that he was not in position of proceeding to ballast operations since he suspected that there could be a hole in the hold, resulting to damage on cargo. As a consequence the ship was inspected by a team of PSCOs from the PSC Office of Patra and the inspection revealed 20 deficiencies, with most of them of a serious nature resulting in a detention.
The cargo ship RAMONA sailed into the Railway Bridge on 28 March 2012 at 2226 hours. There were no injuries, but very serious material damage to the bridge and minor damage to the ship. It had been agreed between the ship and the bridge keeper that passage could take place at 2226 hours. The bridge keeper’s disposition of the timing up to the passage at 2226 hours was based on specific attention to a train crossing the Railway Bridge and his experience and routine with the typical timing. This led to a very narrow time margin from the train crossing the Railway Bridge to the immediately subsequent opening process for the vessel’s intended passage through the bridge. The ship sailed faster than predicted by the bridge keeper and arrived at the Railway Bridge earlier than the bascule could be opened.
The cargo ship MV Warnow Jupiter, being enroute Rotterdam-Wismar, allided with the gate of the new Northern Lock of the Kiel Canal in Brundsbüttel in the night of Nov 21, 2012 short past midnight. The police breathalyzed the captain who was found to be intoxicated with 1,05 per mille.
On October 30, the Vietnamese vessel Saigon Queen, with a crew of 22 on board, sank off Sri Lanka. MV Saigon Queen was a 102 m cargo ship loaded with a cargo of timber destined for India. The accident took place under heavy weather and the Vietnam MRCC was not able to establish communication with the vessel under distress.
A cargo ship with a total of 13 Chinese and six Philippine crew members while heading to Singapore, asked for help after the ship started taking on water. South Korean coast guard responded to their calls and rescued all crew from the sinking cargo ship. Unfortunately the coast guard vessel capsized after rescuing the crew in distress and as a result three Filipino and two Chinese seafarers died.
About 8:10 a.m. last Sunday the cargoship Sedna Desgagnes sheered hard to port and ran aground out of the channel just 0.1 nautical mile above the gap under the Johnstown Bridge in the St. Lawrence Seaway near Prescott. The ship was loaded with a cargo of unprocessed steel. No pollution has been reported.
Russian general cargo ship has been detained since 15 August by Kazakhstan authorities for border pass rules violation, but without any evidence. The ship was loaded with equipment for oil refinery destined for Rostov-on-Don, Kazakhstan.
The cargo ship Wilson Avonmouth was in danger of running aground north of Helsingør on Oct 10, 2012, around midnight. Drunken captain woke up at the very last minute. A quick response and cooperation between Danish and Swedish authorities prevented a Maltese-registered cargo ship running aground north of Elsinore on Tuesday night.
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Officer of the Watch 