The London P&I Club has received news of two very recent incidents in which bulk carriers have faced severe stability problems within hours of departure from a port in India at which iron ore fines had been loaded.In one case, the ship is reported to have capsized and sunk. In both cases, the preliminary reports attribute the loss of stability to liquefaction of the iron ore fines cargo.
News Alerts
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11 September 2009
4 September 2009
As the monsoon season comes to an end, an increase in the level of piracy attacks in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean is anticipated, particularly as the number of vessels understood to be remain captured is well below the historical high of eighteen, which suggests that pirates operating in those waters have the resources to seize more.
4 June 2009
The number of ships being attacked by pirates operating out of Somalia shows no signs of abatement. The recent capture of two vessels north of the Seychelles demonstrates that the risk now extends to areas beyond the immediate coastline of Somalia. Of greater encouragement are reports of an increase in the number of attacks being successfully deterred which may indicate that crew are more effectively deploying counter-measures (see the OCIMF guidelines referred to below).
8 May 2009
Previous editions of the London P&I Clubs StopLoss bulletin have highlighted the need to take particular care to avoid shipboard injuries during heavy weather and a similar theme was raised in a recently published report from the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) on an incident on the Maersk Kithira in 2008 in which one officer was killed and another was seriously injured.
1 May 2009
THE United Nation's World Health Organization (WHO) is co-ordinating the response to the potential pandemic of influenza A (H1N1), which is often referred to as pig flu or swine flu. In addition to Mexico, where the outbreak began, cases of swine flu have been confirmed in Austria, Canada, Costa Rica, Germany, Israel, New Zealand, Peru, Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the UK and the US. Deaths have been confirmed in Mexico and the US.
31 March 2009
The Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF) have published a new edition of Piracy The East Africa / Somalia Situation Practical Measures to Avoid, Deter or Delay Piracy Attacks, which provides practical guidance for seafarers faced with potential or actual acts of piracy.
19 March 2009
Present information suggests that whilst pirates operating out of Somalia remain active, this year has thus far seen a welcome decrease in the number of successful attacks upon merchant ships transiting the Gulf of Aden and surrounding waters. The reduction in ships held suggests that Somali pirates have the capacity to increase activity again and therefore it would be prudent to maintain preparedness to counter an attack.
4 February 2009
VENEZUELA is the latest country to come under scrutiny from the US Coast Guard (USCG) in its ongoing project to determine the effectiveness of anti-terrorism measures in foreign ports. According to the USCG effective anti-terrorism measures are not being maintained in Venezuela and a number of restrictions have, therefore, been imposed.
15 January 2009
THE London P&I Club has warned that the January 8 decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg in the case of Capt Apostolos Mangouras, the master of the Prestige, could seriously increase the risk of bail requirements being influenced by political considerations.
19 December 2008
Reports on casualties resulting from passage planning problems have featured regularly in the London Clubs StopLoss Bulletin. For example, berth-to-berth planning in StopLoss 38 included a reminder of the advantage of using cross hatching to indicate a no go area on a paper chart. And recently, the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has issued a report which, among other things, highlights the same issue for Electronic Chart Display Information Systems (ECDIS).