SSG No 4 - Shipgaz

Captain Schröder released
On February 8 the German captain
Wolfgang Schröder was released after
four months in an American high security
prison. Schröder was master of the containership
Zim Mexico III that was involved in
a fatal accident in the port of Mobile, Alabama
in March last year. The bow thruster
failed during manoeuvring and the ship’s
bow struck a gantry crane, which crashed
to the ground hitting an electrician, who
died from the injuries. Schröder was arrested
and charged with misconduct and was
found guilty. Schröder admitted in court
that he knew the bow thruster had failed
before. Neither he nor the port pilot insisted
on a tug being in assistance.
THE SCANDINAVIAN SHIPPING GAZETTE • FEBRUARI 23, 2007
Schröder was facing a prison term of
up to two years but was set free on time
already served and had to leave the US
within 72 hours. The vessels operator, Rickmers
Reederei of Germany, has agreed to
pay a USD 350,000 fine.
There has been a number of noticed
arrests and incarcerations of masters over
the recent years. Captain Larsen, who is
portrayed on page 12, and also Captain
Mangouras of the Prestige, Captain Spiropoulos
of the Erika, and Salvage Master Pappas
held in Karachi over the Tasman Spirit
grounding. The Erika trial is scheduled to
start on February 12 and is expected to last
until June.
Research on Fast Rescue Boat system
The final report of the research and
development project REBUS was
presented on January 26. The project has
run since 2003 with the aim to develop a
new Fast Rescue Boat system (FRB). The
FRB concept was introduced in 2000 as a
result of lessons learned during the sinking
of the Estonia but unfortunately a lot of
incidents and accidents have been reported
from FRB operations.
In the REBUS system the manual handling
of painter line and lifting wire has been
eliminated, and the FRB is driven into a
dock with automatic locking devices. The
pendulum problems with a FRB hanging
at a high hull side have been reduced by
the means of a guider along the ships side.
The system was first tested at SSPA’s
USCG has revealed a number of
falsified oil record books and magic
pipes, resulting in both heavy fines and
imprisonment. Heavy lift operator Pacific-
Gulf Marine was fined USD 1 million after
admitting that the company’s entire fleet
have discharged hundreds of thousands of
litres of oily water bypassing the oily water
separator (OWS) with a magic pipe.
A USD 750,000 fine was imposed on the
Greek owners of the bulk carrier Irika after
a similar charge, but here the ships second
engineer is rewarded USD 250,000 for blowing
the whistle. The engineer slipped some
photographs of a magic pipe in operation
seakeeping and manoeuvring basin in
Göteborg and later a prototype was tested
onboard Stena Danica during the autumn
of 2006.
The REBUS project also recommends
that FRB operators wear personal protective
equipment, such as a dry rescue suit,
lifejacket and helmet, and that they be
equipped with a portable, watertight VHF
unit with a headset. A new type of lifejacket,
dedicated for the FRB operators, has
been developed within REBUS. This lifejacket
is certified and under production.
Vinnova and the Swedish Maritime
Administration financed the project with a
total budget of EUR 1.9 million.
For more information, please see
www.sesonboard.com
Magic pipe led to fines and prison
to the inspectors during an inspection.
Owners of another Greek bulk carrier,
the Irene E.M., were hit with a USD 1.25
million fine for carrying a false oil record
book and bypassing the inoperable OWS
on a regular basis for several months. USD
250,000 of the fine goes to a marine environment
project in Delaware Bay.
A similar charge resulted in the Korean
chief engineer being sentenced to five
months in prison and the second engineer
to three years’ probation. The ship’s operator,
Sun Ace Shipping Co, was handed a
USD 500,000 fine in addition to a threeyear
restriction on trading to the US.
New MARPOL
checklist
Lloyd’s Register and UK P&I officials
believe port state control (PSC)
inspectors will increasingly crack down on
offences involving air pollution, garbage
disposal and ballast management. To help
masters and owners to comply with MAR-
POL and reduce the risk of PSC detentions,
Lloyd’s Register and the UK P&I
Club has jointly published a checklist. The
checklist highlights seven areas where operational
deficiencies are frequently found:
oil from machinery spaces, retention of
oil onboard, discharge violation, inconsistent
oil record book entries, garbage management,
cargo residues and shipboard
oil pollution emergency plans (SOPEP).
Although not directly linked to MARPOL,
an appendix on ballast water management
is also included.
In 2005, Lloyd’s Register also published
a pre-port arrival PSC checklist to support
owners and masters. The checklist covers
the most common items for detention,
such as fire pumps, lifeboats, engine room
cleanliness and certificates for masters and
officers.
For more information, please see
www.sesonboard.com
Loss Prevention
tooLBox
in co-operation with
MORE NEwS, SOURCES AND lINkS
www.sesonboard.com