Cargo ship Transmar (IMO 7427611) was detained by the Port Authority Stylidas on the morning of March 31st 2017 following an inspection performed under the PARIS MOU, reports Vessel Tracker The PSC inspectors are understood to have found “serious deficiencies on board”.
Russian tanker VF Tanker 7 (IMO 9640554) exploded at ship repair yard Terem in Varna, Bulgaria after docking for maintenance and repair works. According to local reports the accident happened during welding works on the vessel’s hull. VF Tanker 7 is 7,036 dwt and 5,075 grt.
Swedish prosecutors have charged the captain of Estonia-owned cargo vessel Helt with intoxication while in charge of a vessel after his ship nearly ran aground northeast of Copenhagen on the night of March 10th, reports Marex.
Helt (2,100 dwt) was heading northbound in the Øresund strait when she altered course and headed for shore near Rydebäck, south of Helsingborg. The marine traffic service attempted to contact the vessel, but they were unsuccessful, and they alerted the Coast Guard. Two patrol boats headed out to intercept the Helt but at the last moment the Helt turned to avoid a grounding, subsequently continuing on a northerly course with the Swedish Coast Guard boats in pursuit. They caught up with her to the north of Helsingborg and sent a boarding team aboard. The officers reportedly ordered the crew to anchor up while they investigated. “When we entered the cabin we felt a distinct stench of alcohol and the captain was sitting on the sofa,” an officer wrote in the incident report. “He was visibly affected, red eyes, flushed face, his breath smelt noticeably of alcohol.” The officers administered a breathalyzer test, and the captain tested for 1.83 parts-per-thousand BAC, or about 0.19 percent by volume. The captain admitted that he had consumed nearly a pint of vodka over the course of the day. He was taken off the vessel and held pending trial. In court, the captain admitted the charges and expressed regret.
A relief captain was brought in for the Helt and the vessel continued her voyage fairly promptly.
The inmate master of barge Tsunami caused an accident in the fishery port of Bremerhaven on March 30, 2017. The ship had sailed at 1:15 p.m. from fishing port II towards the double lock, but the barge allided with a fixed pontoon. Shortly after, the main engine and the bow thruster of the “Tsunami” failed. With the help of other vessels, the water police ensured that the ship moored at the West Quay. When boarding the ship, police officers found that the 56-year-old master had an alcohol level of 1.64 per thousand BAC. The barge may leave Bremerhaven only after its technical problems have been fixed.
21-metre wind farm transfer craft CWind Tempest had two crew and four turbine technicians on board on March 30th when it hit an object underwater and started sinking near the Vattenfall wind farm off the coast of Whitstable, reported Kent
Online. The Sheerness RNLI all-weather lifeboat joined the Whitstable lifeboat and another wind farm vessel 35 minutes later. Two crew members from the Sheerness lifeboat were put on board the Tempest with a salvage pump and another pump from the Whitstable lifeboat. The craft eventually floated free and the damaged compartment was sealed. The skipper then sailed the badly-listing vessel under its own power at slow speed to Whitstable. Both lifeboats escorted it to safety. The Tempest was finally secured alongside the quay in Whitstable Harbour at 13.10 on the same day.
A crew member went missing from the Tali after the vessel left the port of Kokkola on the evening of March 30th 2017, reports Vessel Tracker. His disappearance was noted at change of watch and reported to the MRCC, which launched an SAR operation in the Gulf of Bothnia involving the Finnish and Swedish maritime rescue.
SeaRose FPSO nearly hit an iceberg close to Newfoundland. Husky Energy said that all necessary measures were being taken to protect SeaRose from sea ice. There were reports that the iceberg had passed within metres of the SeaRose, but Husky told CBC that it was further away than this, but still close enough to take precautions. Husky said the SeaRose FPSO remained on location at the White Rose field.