Selected items from compilation of Intership Navigation Training Center. Issue 26 / 2010

1. CASUALTY WEBRIEF

M/V SAMSUN BORYEONG (Panama, 77372gt) had a small explosion on deck causing a seaman to jump overboard after being set on fire, some 240 miles off central Queensland, Australia, 29-June-2010. A lifeboat was launched and he was picked up. He was airlifted up by a helicopter when within range and brought to hospital. 

M/V MATHEUS (Netherlands), Amsterdam to Ijmuiden, hit the Zaan Bridge between Wormer and Wormerveer on 25-June-2010 at 3 p.m. The bridge was being lowered down when the “Matheus” passed. The ship’s crane was damaged. The bridge’s planks of the pedestrian lane was broken lose.

2. PIRACY

M/T GOLDEN BLESSING (Singapore, 14445dwt) w/ 19-Chinese crew was hijacked by pirates 90 miles off the northern Somali Coast. On notification from the master of the MV Golden Blessing that pirates were on board, the EU NAVFOR warship SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN (Germany) immediately launched their helicopter and reported sighting suspected pirates on board the MV Golden Blessing. The vessel is under pirate control and moving towards the Somali Coast as monitored by EU NAVFOR. The tanker is laden with glycoethylene.

3. STCW REVISION

The final version of revised STCW convention was agreed at the IMO Diplomatic Conference in Manila, 21 -25-June-2010. It will come into force at the beginning of 2012. Amendments include:

• improved measures to prevent fraudulent practices associated with certificates of competency

• revised requirements on hours of work and rest

• new requirements for the prevention of drug and alcohol abuse

• updated standards relating to medical fitness standards for seafarers

• new certification requirements for able seafarers, deck and engine

• new requirements relating to training in modern technology such as ECDIS

• new requirements for marine environment awareness training & training in leadership & teamwork

• new training and certification requirements for electro-technical officers

• updating of competence requirements for personnel serving on board all types of tankers

• new requirements for security training, including for piracy attacks

• modern training methodology including distance learning and web-based learning

• new training guidance for personnel serving on board ships operating in polar waters

• new training guidance for personnel operating dynamic positioning systems

4. DISTRESS SIGNALS IGNORED

MAIB has reported that a number of merchant ships ignored multiple distress flares and maydays from a sinking fishing vessel in the Channel last December, in apparent “dereliction of one of the most fundamental duties of the mariner”. One fisherman died as a result, leading MAIB chief to accuse some merchant vessels of failing to meet the longstanding legal and moral obligation to go to aid of those in peril on the sea. Through the use of recorded AIS data, vessels that were in the area at the time were identified.

Quoted was SOLAS Chapter V, regulation 33, which codifies that maritime tradition that masters are bound to provide assistance for persons in distress at sea, regardless of the nationality or status of such persons or the circumstances in which they are found.

If a ship is unable to provide assistance, or considers it unreasonable or unnecessary to do so, it must enter reasons for failure to do so in its log book.

5. IMPRISONMENT FOR CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

M/T SURFER ROSA (Malta) has a sailor charged with possession of child pornography, pleaded guilty, and will spend the next two months in a Newfoundland / Labrador jail. He was arrested by RCMP officers at the Come By Chance refinery in Placentia Bay on 15-June. Canadian Border Services agents discovered child pornography during a routine search. Video of child pornography was found on his cell phone while his cabin was being searched. Investigators also discovered four more videos on an external hard drive. In addition to giving a DNA sample, he will also be registered as a sex offender in the country's national database and will likely be deported after he serves his sentence.

6. POLLUTION

M/V DORIC GLORY (Panama, 34720)'s managing company pled guilty in federal court in New Orleans, for violating the US Acts related to Polllution, 23-June-2010. It was charged with presenting a false Oil Record Book to the U.S. Coast Guard, and for discharging lubricating oil from the stern tube of the M/V Doric Glory into the navigable waters and contiguous zone of the US and the exclusive Economic Zone belonging to the US in the Gulf of Mexico. According to the plea agreement, the company will pay a $700,000 criminal penalty: a $525,000 fine and a separate $175,000 community service payment. It will also serve three years probation.