© International Marine Consultancy

© Bourbon

Bourbon Offshore has announced that at 5.25am European time on June 26th, Athena, one of Bourbon’s fleet of multi-purpose supply vessels (MPSVs) operating under contract to Total E&P Congo reported what the company described as “a technical incident” provoking entry of water in the engine room.

The ship was 15 nautical miles off the coast of Congo, in transit between the Likouala and East Tchibouela fields at the time.

Emergency procedures were put in place and the ship’s anchor was dropped dropped and the engine compartments were shut off.

The 63 people on board (26 crew members and 37 technicians) were immediately evacuated to a Total barge situated in the vicinity.

Athena was then towed by Achille, a Bourbon AHTS which is also under contract to Total E&P Congo, to Pointe Noire.

No pollution has been reported as a result of the incident and pumping was started, with the intention of towing the ship to a dry-dock for repair.

However, on June 27th, Bourbon said that due to poor weather conditions, pumping and water tightness operations had been stopped with the ship resting on a sandy bed at a depth of 10m and listing by more than 50°. “No lives are at risk,” said Bourbon.

Smit Salvage has been contracted to proceed with operations to salvage the vessel and operations are already under way.

Athena is a Vik-Sandvik-designed VS 4501 MPSV.

Source: Offshore Shipping Online

Tags : Bourbon Offshore, MPSV, flooding

Each vessel has its own hierarchical structure of authority. We have set out below a short description of the most common positions.

Master
(addressed as ‘Captain’)

The captain, or master, is responsible for the safe and economical operation of the vessel in compliance with applicable
regulations. He or she is ultimately responsible for the safety of hundreds, or sometimes even thousands of passengers.

A captain is expected to possess managerial and leadership skills in addition to competence in navigation, seamanship and docking procedures.

On call 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, Sundays and holidays included.
In practice many tasks and duties are delegated to other officers onboard and the role is mainly managerial and supervisory but with a good measure of administration thrown in.

Chief Mate
(also called ‘Chief Officer’)

Second in command of the vessel. Assumes command in the Master’s absence. Responsible for safe loading, stowage, carriage and discharge of cargo. Responsible for deck maintenance, ensuring all equipment is maintained in good working order. Responsible for fire and safety equipment: ensuring all ready, available and in good working order. Supervises deck personnel, promotes safety, and performs administrative duties.

Ensures required equipment and materials are purchased and available for use.

Second Mate
(also called ‘Second Officer’)

Assumes responsibility for standing a navigation and cargo watch. Responsible for ensuring all bridge equipment is in good working order, and all necessary charts and publications are onboard and corrected through the latest N.M. Plans deck maintenance, maintains appropriate records/logs, submits reports, assists the Master in all aspects of voyage planning and communications.

Upkeep of navigational charts and publications .

Third Mate

Assumes responsibility for a navigation and cargo watch. Responsible for ensuring all fire-fighting and safety equipment is inspected and maintained in good working order. Primary medical officer - responsible for rendering first aid and ensuring adequate medical supplies available. Maintains proper medical logs and safety maintenance records.

Chief Engineer

Responsible for the Engineering Department and engineering personnel. The technical manager of the vessel. Stands watch in the engine room as necessary and during all maneuverings. Oversees the operation, maintenance and repairs of the vessel. Assigns and performs duties as necessary to ensure the engine room is a safe working environment in operational readiness.

The chief engineer is the most highly qualified and experienced technical person on the vessel. He/she has a thorough knowledge of the vessel’s construction, machinery and engineering systems together with all relevant legislation pertaining to them.

Able Bodied Seamen

Performs deck maintenance under the supervision of the Mate. Assists in the mooring, docking and anchoring operations. Operates deck machinery including hatches, gangway, winches, crane, etc. Performs ballast/de-ballast operations in port and occasionally lookout/helm duties at sea. Required to assist in taking on stores and performing custodial duties.

Able-bodied seaman stands bridge watch, lookout, helmsman, and steers the ship. He can also run the ship’s main launch.

On Fogonazos’ website I read an article about the FLIP research vessel.

The Floating Instrument Platform, FLIP, is a 355 foot long manned spar buoy designed as a stable research platform for oceanographic research. FLIP is towed to its operating area in the horizontal position and through ballast changes is “flipped” to the vertical position to become a stable spar buoy with a draft of 300 feet.

FLIP is owned by the US Navy and was conceived and developed by the Marine Physical Laboratory (MPL), Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego. Built originally to measure effects of the environment on long range sound propagation for the US Navy’s SUBROC program, FLIP has been used principally for acoustics research since then.

According to this video the design was inspired by a Louisville Slugger, a baseball bat. After each flip all equipment on board (beds, toilet, shower, etc.) needs to be repositioned.

Tags : FLIP, navy, acoustics, oceanography

© International Marine Consultancy

13-19 June 2007

The following is a summary of the daily reports broadcast by the IMB’s Piracy Reporting Centre to ships in Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean Regions on the SafetyNET service of Inmarsat-C from 13 to 19 June 2007.

ALERT

Chittagong anchorage, Bangladesh
Forty seven incidents have been reported since 28.01.2006. Pirates are targeting ships preparing to anchor. Ships are advised to take extra precautions.

Suspicious crafts

• 18.04.2007: 2320 LT: Entrance Cartagena Colombia.
A container ship, while disembarking her pilot on the port side noticed, on radar, one unlit suspicious boat approaching from the stbd side at high speed. The master alerted the crew. The boat came very close to the vessel (about 10 m from the hull). On seeing the alert crew on ship’s side, the boat retreated and disappeared into the darkness. The master informed the Centre to alert other vessels calling Cartagena, Colombia.

Recently reported incidents

• 13.06.2007: 0108 UTC: Posn 03:05N - 054:50E, Somalia.
Three boats approached a tanker on converging courses. As the ship altered her course, the boats adjusted their course and continued to approach the ship. As the ship increased speed, the distance between the boats and ship increased which prevented the boarding.

• 10.06.2007: 0522 LT: Posn 06:00.6S - 106:53.2E, Jakarta, tanker anchorage, Indonesia.
A few fishing boats diverted the attention of the watch keepers while two robbers boarded a tanker at anchor using grappling hooks. The robbers stole two life rafts and escaped. Port authorities informed, however no action taken.

• 07.06.2007: Off Eritrean waters, Eritrea.
Pirates attacked and fired upon an Egyptian fishing vessel underway and forced the vessel to stop. They hijacked the vessel to Eritrean regional waters and held 23 fishermen and sailors as hostages.

Piracy prone areas and warnings

S E Asia and the Indian Sub Continent

Bangladesh : Chittagong anchorage and approaches. The area is listed as very high risk.
Indonesia : Belawan, Tanjong Priok (Jakarta) / generally in other areas.
Malacca straits
Singapore Straits

Africa and Red Sea

Africa : Lagos (Nigeria) / generally other areas in Nigeria, Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania)
Gulf of Aden / Red Sea : Numerous pirate attacks have been reported by ships and yachts in the Gulf of Aden. Some of the vessels were fired upon.
Somalian waters : Eastern and North-eastern coasts are high-risk areas for attacks and hijackings. Ships not making scheduled calls to ports in Somalia should keep as far away as possible from the Somali coast, ideally, more than 200 nautical miles.

South and Central America and the Caribbean waters

Brazil - Santos
Peru – Callao

source: ICC

tags : piracy, ICC

On gCaptain I discovered a link to Stephen Harris’s Marine Disasters Page. I can highly recommend a visit to this website. It showcases a large collection of maritime losses, including stories on ‘Rocknes’, ‘Tricolor’, ‘Erika’, etc.

As already pointed out by John, the site does seem to be in need of some updating (it is missing info on recent cases such as the ‘MSC Napoli’, ‘Repubblica di Genova’ and ‘Rokia Delmas’), but still worth a visit.

Dubai, investing billions of dollars in tourist attractions, bought the QE2 cruise ship from Cunard Line for $100 million and will convert the vessel into a hotel to be moored beside the emirate’s Palm Island.

The Dubai government-owned Istithmar PJSC investment firm will take delivery of the 40-year-old ship in November 2008. The QE2 will open as a hotel and museum the next year, Istithmar, based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, said in an e-mail today.

Dubai, the second-largest of seven sheikhdoms that make up the U.A.E., is investing in tourism, real estate and financial companies to diversify away from oil. The largest visitor attraction under development is Dubailand, a $20 billion theme park and entertainment complex three times the size of Manhattan.

The QE2 had been Cunard’s flagship since the vessel’s maiden voyage to New York in 1969. She became known as the Great White Whale after being drafted as a troop transport in the Falklands War. Since its launch in 1967 by Queen Elizabeth II, the QE2 has completed more than 5 million miles at sea.

The Palm Jumeirah is one of three artificial islands in the Persian Gulf which will add 520 kilometers (322 miles) of coastline to Dubai and are being built by Istithmar’s sister company Nakheel PJSC, a unit of Dubai World.

Istithmar, one of several investment companies owned by the Dubai government, has acquired properties in London and New York, including the Mandarin Oriental New York Hotel, 280 Park Avenue, 450 Lexington Avenue and the Knickerbocker Hotel at 6 Times Square. Istithmar bought an approximately $1 billion stake in Standard Chartered Plc in October 2006.

U.A.E. companies have spent about $41 billion on acquisitions since January 2006, including Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co. for $7.7 billion, Doncasters Plc for $1.2 billion and John Laing Homes for $1 billion.

The QE2’s predecessor, the Queen Elizabeth, sailed the Atlantic from 1940 until 1968, when she was sold to a group of Philadelphia businessmen. C.Y.Tung Shipping bought her to become a floating university in 1969, and the ship was destroyed by arson in 1972 before the project was completed.

source: Bloomberg

Tags : cunard, qe2 liner, istithmar, dubai

Picture courtesy Charles Francis

Sunbathers on a Cornish beach had a Dutch navy ship for company after the vessel’s crew made a mess of their landing exercise and become beached on a sandbar.

The vessel landed at Pentewan beach near St Austell, Cornwall, on Monday morning and proved an instant attraction, with holidaymakers setting up picnics and children building sandcastles just yards away.

Photographer Charles Francis, 61, who lives in nearby Heligan, spotted the beached ship and captured the strange scene. He said: “This landing went wrong when one of their craft beached on a sandbar which is not usually present.

“Pentewan Beach is normally very flat and is sometimes used in the winter months as a good beach on which British marines can practise amphibious landings.

“But the river can change its course, and it had thrown up a sandbar just where they’d come in to land.

“It was stuck on the sandbanks and the crew seemed to be having a day off, really, just sunbathing on the beach because they couldn’t do whatever there were meant to do.

“People carried on as if it wasn’t there. It was sunny there were quite a few people.”

Local authorities will hope beached ships do not become too familiar over the next few days - passing sailors have been warned that the Ministry of Defence are testing GPS-jamming equipment in the South West which could interfere with navigational equipment.

Mr Francis took a note of the Dutch vessel’s identification number and checked it out on the internet.

He said: “It was under ‘Landing Craft - Marine Corps’ within the Royal Netherlands Navy.”

A spokesman for the Dutch embassy said they were unaware of the incident.

source: Telegraph

Tags : navy, pentewan