At the annual general meeting and Executive and Technical Committees’ meetings of the International Association of Dry Cargo Owners (INTERCARGO) in London on October 1st and 2nd, the association observed that 2017 was marked by the tragic losses of M/V Stellar Daisy, carrying iron ore, and M/V Emerald Star, with nickel ore cargo, causing the loss of 32 seafarers, the greatest loss of life in a single year since 2011.
INTERCARGO said that the submission of quality casualty investigation reports “without undue delays” would greatly benefit the industry. It said that it had already commended the Isle of Man Ship Registry, the Flag Administration of the M/V Cheshire, for its timely publication and the clarity of its Casualty Investigation Report, which allowed the IMO and INTERCARGO to consider corrective actions (for example, in relation to the IMSBC code).
“The importance of investigating an incident and the subsequent publication of a casualty investigation report cannot be over stated; the dry bulk industry expects strict compliance with IMO’s Casualty Investigation Code, which might even necessitate a “naming and shaming” enforcement process. We invite the IMO to regularly publish casualty analyses”, INTERCARGO said.
The statement could further be read as a veiled comment on the relative speed of the report on the Cheshire sinking when compared with the lack of any details from the Marshall Islands on the sinking of VLOC Stellar Daisy, which sank in the South Atlantic in March 2017.