Marine Occurrence report 232 - Australian Transport Safety Bureau

1 FACTUAL INFORMATION
1.1 Creciente
Creciente is a Hong Kong registered bulk carrier (Figure 1). At the time of the
incident, it was owned by Triumph Sea, Hong Kong and managed by Eurasia
International China, Hong Kong. The ship was classed with Lloyd’s Register (LR).
The ship was built in 1989 by Mitsui Engineering and Ship Building, Japan. It is a
conventional cape-sized bulk carrier with nine cargo holds located forward of the
accommodation superstructure. It has an overall length of 270.0 m, a beam of
43.0 m, a depth of 24.1 m and a deadweight of 152 065 tonnes at its summer
draught of 17.62 m.
Propulsive power is provided by a six cylinder MAN B&W 6S70 MC, single
acting, direct reversing, two-stroke diesel engine delivering 16 400 kW. The main
engine drives a single fixed pitch, right hand turning propeller to give the ship a
service speed of about 14 knots 3 .
Figure 1: Creciente at anchor off Port Hedland
At the time of the incident, the ship’s crew consisted of 12 Indian, 16 Bangladeshi
and one Pakistani national. The mates and engineers maintained a watchkeeping
routine of four hours on, eight hours off while at sea. In port, the mates continued
this routine while the engineers worked a twenty-four hour duty roster with the
engine room unmanned outside normal daytime working hours.
The master held an Indian master’s certificate of competency, which was first
issued in 1975. He had 41 years seagoing experience, the last 29 years in command.
3 One knot, or one nautical mile per hour equals 1.852 kilometres per hour.
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