11 FOREIGN SHIPS UNDER DETENTION IN THE UK DURING MARCH 2005

25 May 2005 05:15 PM

The Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) announced that 11 foreign ships were under detention in UK ports during March 2005 after failing Port State Control safety inspection.

Monthly figures show that there were 7 new detentions of foreign flagged ships in UK ports during March 2005, along with 4 other ships still under detention from previous months. This represents a decrease of 4 new detentions in comparison to February. The overall rate of detentions compared with inspections carried out over the last 12 months is 5.3% with is a decrease of 0.8% compared to February's 12 month rate.

Vessels detained in March include the following:

* A St Vincent & the Grenadines flagged, 3150 GT general cargo ship was detained on 21/03/05 for 10 days in Ipswich. There were 43 recorded deficiencies.

The attending Inspectors found the following detainable items:

- The fire drill was unsatisfactory.
- The throttle to the emergency fire pump was found to vibrate shut when the pump was running.
- The air line to the whistle was found to be badly corroded and perforated.
- The funnel fire dampers were not closing properly.
- The pilot ladder side ropes were found to be in poor condition and distorted.
- The charts for the local area were not up to date.

A total of 7 deficiencies were raised against section 10 of the ships ISM safety management system - maintenance of the ship and its equipment. The various checklists such as pre-arrival, monthly and weekly checklist were found to be in good order; however a number of deficiencies such as the pilot ladder ropes, fire flaps and whistle air line had not occurred in a short period of time and as non conformities were raised and the ship given 3 months to review its planned maintenance system.
* A Russian flagged, 3042 GT general cargo ship was detained on 10/03/05 for 3 days in Burnham on Crouch. There were 22 recorded deficiencies.

The vessel was detained because:

- The fire doors between the main engine room and auxiliary room could not be closed due to obstruction of cables and hoses. - The engine room's vents could not be closed due to being seized or obstructed.

A review of the planned maintenance system was carried out by the attending Inspector. The planned maintenance system stated that all fire doors and ventilators had been checked 21/02/05 (17 days earlier) and that all were found to be satisfactory. Based on the three detainable items mentioned above an ISM non conformity was raised against the maintenance of the ship and its equipment.

The vessel was targeted for inspection because a report was received by the MCA stating that the AIS heading was out by 180 Degrees from the vessels actual heading.

* A Democratic People's Republic of Korea flagged, 1599 GT general cargo ship was detained on 08/03/05 for 4 days in Ipswich. A total of 22 deficiencies were raised.

The vessel was detained because several charts were out of date and not corrected and there was no approved grain booklet or International Grain Code on board. In association with these deficiencies it was also found that there was no declaration on board for the cargo type, there was no stability calculation for the departure condition, the passage plan was not from berth to berth, the magnetic compass was not readable from the wheelhouse, the not under command lights were inoperative, the navtex printer head was defective and the MF/HF radio installation was not as required.

* During the month of March 166 Port State Control Inspections were carried out in the UK. From these inspections a total of 123 vessels had deficiencies raised against them. 82 had between 1 to 5 deficiencies, 25 had between 6 to 10 deficiencies, 9 had between 11 - 20 deficiencies and 7 had more than 20 deficiencies.

Note to Editors

1. In response to one of the recommendations of Lord Donaldson's Inquiry into the prevention of pollution from merchant shipping and in compliance with the EU Directive on Port State Control (95/21/EC as amended), the Maritime and Coastguard agency (MCA) publishes full details of the foreign flagged vessels detained in UK ports each month.

2. Inspections of foreign flagged ships in UK ports are undertaken by surveyors from the MCA. Where a ship is found to be deficient or lacks the required documentation, MCA surveyors can take a range of actions leading to detention in serious cases. The UK is part of a regional agreement on port state control known as the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control (Paris MOU) and information on all ships that are inspected is held centrally in an electronic database known as SIReNaC. This allows the ships of flags with poor detention records to be targeted for future inspection.

3. Detained ships have to satisfy surveyors that remedial work has been carried out before they are allowed to leave port.

4. When applicable the list includes those passenger craft prevented form operating under the provisions of the EU Directive on Mandatory Surveys for the safe operation of regular Ro-Ro ferry and highspeed passenger craft services (1999/35/EU).

Notes on the list of detentions

Full details of the ship
The accompanying detention list shows ship's name, the flag state and the ship's International Maritime Organization (IMO) number which is unchanging throughout the ship's life and uniquely identifies it.

Company
The company shown in the vessel's Safety Management Certificate or the party otherwise believed to be responsible for the safety of the ship at the time of inspection.

Classification Society
The list shows the Classification Society responsible for classing the ship and not necessarily the party issuing and/or carrying out surveys for certificates relevant to the defect found.

Defects
The list gives a summary of the main grounds for detention and includes information where the ship has been released to sail to another port for repairs.

SHIPS DETAINED IN MARCH 2005

Date & Place of detention: 08/03/2005 - Ipswich
Vessel Name: TALI MAR (General Cargo) 1599 GT
IMO No: 7528556
Flag: Democratic People's Republic of Korea
Company: TMB Shipping Ltd, Tripoli, Lebanon
Classification Society: Turkish Lloyd

Summary: Detained for 4 days. 22 recorded deficiencies. No approved Grain Booklet and International Grain Code on Board. Several charts out of date and not corrected.

Date & Place of detention: 08/03/2005 - Newport
Vessel Name: ISLAND GEM (Bulk Carrier) 17065 GT
IMO No: 8312100
Flag: Hellenic Republic
Company: Siomar Enterprises Ltd, Piraeus, Greece
Classification Society: American Bureau of Shipping (ABS)

Summary: Detained for 9 days. 7 recorded deficiencies. Port and Starboard lifeboat davits falls blocks cheek plates severely wasted. Hatch cover cleat bridge piece brackets severely wasted. All lifejackets to be replaced as collar detaches easily due to rotten condition of cotton. Collision damage to be repaired - holed above and below waterline impairing the seaworthiness of the vessel. Nature of deficiencies suggest breakdown of onboard Safety Management procedures relating to maintenance of ship and its equipment.

Date & Place of detention: 10/03/2005 - Baltic Wharf, Creeksea Vessel Name: SORMOVSKIY 3060 (General Cargo) 3042 GT
IMO No: 8702214
Flag: Russian Federation
Company: Western Shipping Company, Kalliningrad, Russian Federation Classification Society: Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RMRS)

Summary: Detained for 3 days. 22 recorded deficiencies. Starboard Engine room vent fire dampers seized, and port side vent obstructed. Fire doors between main engine room and auxiliary room incapable of closure due to obstructing cables and hosed. One fire door had both handles missing.

Date & Place of detention: 14/03/2005 - Fawley
Vessel Name: MONT BLANC (Oil/Chemical Tanker) 22683 GT
IMO No: 7923586
Flag: Liberia
Company: Thome Shipmanagement , Singapore
Classification Society: Det Norske Veritas (DNV)

Summary: Detained for 3 days. 32 recorded deficiencies. MF/HF radio installation inoperative - no voice reception. Number of deficiencies suggest maintenance of ship and equipment not in accordance with Safety Management System.

Date & Place of detention: 21/03/2005 - Ipswich
Vessel Name: BALKAN FUTURE (General Cargo) 3150 GT
IMO No: 8403337
Flag: St Vincent & Grenadines
Company: BSM Shipping Ltd. Varna, Bulgaria
Classification Society: Bulgarski Koraben Registar (BKR)

Summary: Detained for 10 days. 43 recorded deficiencies. Airline to whistle badly corroded and perforated. Funnel Fire dampers not closing properly. Pilot ladder side ropes in poor condition and distorted. Charts missing or not corrected. Fire drill
unsatisfactory. Firepump throttle stop vibrates shut when pump running. Air conditioning fire damper not closing properly. Records of routine maintenance not accurate and number of deficiencies suggest a breakdown in the onboard Safety Management System.

Date & Place of detention: 21/03/2005 - Birkenhead
Vessel Name: PREVEZE (General Cargo) 1497 GT
IMO No: 7129441
Flag: Turkey
Company: Altug Denizcilik Ticaret Ltd. Sadikoglu, Turkey Classification Society: Turku Lloyd

Summary: Detained for 4 days. 19 recorded deficiencies. Emergency generator has fuel leak. Pannel missing from switchboard. Emergency firepump not discharging properly. Number of deficiencies suggest a breakdown in the onboard Safety Management System.

Date & Place of detention: 22/03/05 - South Sheilds
Vessel Name: DOST 1 (General Cargo) 4955 GT
IMO No: 9001148
Flag: Turkey
Company: C-M Denizcilik Sanayi Ve Ticadet, Istanbul, Turkey Classification Society: American Bureau of Shipping (ABS)

Summary: Still under detention at the end of March 2005. 20 recorded deficiencies. Radio Batteries defective and Radio battery charger incapable of charging batteries.

DETENTIONS CARRIED OVER FROM PREVIOUS MONTHS

Date & Place of detention: 05/09/2000 - Lowestoft
Vessel Name: OLIVER FELIX (Tug) 144 GT
IMO No: 5281128
Flag: Honduras
Company: General Maritime Ltd, London
Classification Society: International Naval Surveys Bureau (INSB)

Summary: Allowed to sail to Southampton for scrapping and re-detained on arrival, (27/02/03). 50 recorded deficiencies. Magnetic Compass deviation card missing, daylight signals missing, excess oil in engine room constituting a fire hazard, ship's certificates expired.

Date & Place of detention: 08/08/2003 - Tyne
Vessel Name: GLORIA (General Cargo) 657 GT
IMO No: 6523107
Flag: Estonia
Company: Timant Ltd, Tallinn, Estonia
Classification Society: None

Summary: Still under detention at the end of March. 57 deficiencies recorded prior to inspection being suspended. Vessel unsafe due to condition of ship's hull structure, deck transverse beams holed with corrosion, numerous side frames distorted due to operational damage, vessel fails to meet the stability requirements for a vessel loading bulk grain, evidence of insect infestation in cargo hold.

Date & Place of detention: 09/02/2005 - Blyth
Vessel Name: AQUA PIONEER (General Cargo) 1499 GT
IMO No: 8100624
Flag: Malta
Company: ARPA Shipping, Roosendaal, Netherlands
Classification Society: Germanischer Lloyd (GL) LR for ISM

Summary: Still under detention at the end of March. 17 recorded deficiencies. Engineroom skylight casing and engineroom bulkhead into accommodation corroded through in several places and repaired with tape. ISM maintenance procedures failed to ensure compliance with SOLAS requirements, and known defects were not reported to the company.

Date & Place of detention: 17/02/2005 - Birkenhead
Vessel Name: MIDLAND 21 (General Cargo) 3720 GT
IMO No: 8002793
Flag: Malta
Company: Midland Shipping Co, Toronto, Canada
Classification Society: Registro Italiano Navale (RINA) RMRS for ISM

Summary: Released from detention on 23rd March 2005. 18 recorded deficiencies. Fire main isolation valve seized. Emergency fire pump pressure low. Security deficiencies identified. Vessel required further significant repairs following contact damage sustained on arrival at Birkenhead. The nature of the deficiencies suggested a breakdown in the on board Safety Management System.