Berge Stahl is the largest bulk carrier of the world. The vessel is impressive with giant measurements and really large cargo capacity. We should mention that only a few ports in Europe and even all over the world, can accept such large carriers. Berge Stahl is owned by Bergesen d.y. ASA and operated by Berge Bulk Norway. The ship has length of 343.00 m, beam of 65.00 m and maximum summer draft of 23.00 m. The deadweight of this large bulk carrier is 364,767 DWT and the gross tonnage is 175,720 GRT. The cargo capacity of the vessel is over 220,000 cubic meters for carrying grain. The design of the bulk carrier Berge Stahl allow it to carry heavy and light cargoes. The vessel has various compartments with different sizes, as the odd numbers are smaller than the even ones. The special design allow the ship to carry heavy bulk cargoes, which have higher density and high mass. Such structure is used usually in many bulk carriers, but never before in such large …
MSC Flaminia salvage operations started
Towing and salvage tugs arrived on the position of the explosion of the container ship MSC Flaminia and started the operations for fire fighting and rescue of the large vessel. Meanwhile, second explosion on board of the MSC Flaminia was reported by the salvage tugs, which was seen from the burning cargo hold. According to the latest information neither the superstructure, not the engine room and bridge were directly affected by the fire on board, so the rescuers are highly optimistic that the fire will be extinguished and the ship will be saved. The plan for the rescue of the ship include boarding of engineer on MSC Flaminia, who should re-activate the fire fighting system on board and with the support of the tug to extinguish the fire on board and to get the control of the vessel. The salvage operation is still not started and the container vessel is drifting to European coast about 1000 nautical miles off.
(more…)
Estelle Maersk container ship
Estelle Maersk is one of the largest container ships of the world, which has more than 14,500 TEU capacity and operates for the company Maersk Group. The cargo ship is large and modern, combining the best sea practices with modern engineering developments. The container ship Estelle Maersk has length of 397.00 m, beam of 56.00 m and depth of 30.00 m. The vessel has maximum summer draft of 11.40 m, with full cargo capacity on board. The ship has impressive dimensions and improved capacity. The deadweight of Estelle Maersk is 156,907 DWT, while the gross tonnage is 151,687 GRT and the net tonnage is 55,396 tons. The cargo ship was built in 2006 in Odense Steel Shipyard in Odense, Denmark, following the most modern standards of IMO and engineering improvements of the shipbuilder. The container ship Estelle Maersk combines profitability, quality and environmental operations in one really impressive engineering structure. The ship has improved hull design, which…
US Navy ship fired on Indian fishing boat
US navy cargo ship fired to an Indian fishing boat in the Persian Gulf, due to concerns for piracy. The ship Rappahannock, which refuels US Navy ship in the region, passed though the Strait of Hormuz, when a boat enclosed to the ship and disregarded warnings from the vessel. The ship Rappahannock fired with 50-milimeter machine gun to the boat, killing one of the people on board. The accident happened 10 miles off the Dubai's Jebel Ali port, while the ship was passing though the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. The local authorities and Naval Criminal Investigative Service are engaged with investigation of the accident and searching for the reason for the fire. The US navy cargo ship Rappahannock was loaded with fuel oil, when the accident happened, which most probably the main reason for the premature fire. On board of the fishing boat was not found any weapons and arms, but the region is very dangerous for shipping, as almost every day some cargo shi…
PRISCO sold two bulkers to Greek company
The Russian shipowner PRISCO Corp sold its two bulk carrier to the Greek company Navious at total price of 42 million USD. The two vessel PRISCO UDOKAN (IMO:9558907) and PRISCO ABAKAN (IMO:9558892) are sister ships, built in 2009 in the South Korean shipyard Stx Offshore & Shipbuilding. The both bulk carriers have length of 190.00 m, beam of 32.00 m and depth of 10.50 m. The deadweight of the vessels are 57,334 DWT each and the gross tonnage is 33,218 GRT each. The deal is part from the big renovation and restructure of the company, which PRISCO Corp started last year with selling six aframax ships to its rival SCF (Sovcomflot). The company lost the competition for carrying Russian crude oil and lost a lot of its contracts, so during the financial crisis PRISCO Corp was in front of bankruptcy with increasing debts and low value of cargo carried. To survive, the company planned to decrease the value of its fleet and to sale the ships, which are not profitab…
One person died during fire on General Cargo ship
The general cargo ship Brielle caught fire, while being on berth in Ensenada port in La Plata, Argentina. The cargo ship was moored and has cargo operations, when a cargo broke our in one of the cargo holds. One crew member died during the accident and six more people are seriously injured. The firefighters needed more than six hours to extinguish the fire on board of cargo ship Brielle. The general cargo ship has 13 crew members, who were from Russian, Ukrainian and Filipino nations. The died person is still unknown, as the authorities do not specify even the nationality of the man. The cargo ship Brielle suffered sufficient damaged in the hull and superstructure, during the fire. Engaged with the fire fighting were two tugs and the shore command with full equipment. The port authorities are still investigating the reason for the fire on board, as still it is unknown if it was started by human mistake or engineering failure.
(more…)
MSC Flaminia is still on fire in mid Atlantic
The fire, which started on 14th July 2012 in the cargo holds of MSC Flaminia is still not extinguished. The container ship is drifting in the mid Atlantic and billowing thick smoke, which is seen from the passing cargo ships in the vicinity. All the crew members left the ship, after the explosion on board and the ship is not under control, such as the fire on board. The Falmouth Coastguard sent two fire fighting tugs at the scene of the accident, but their ETA is the afternoon of 17th July 2012. The coastguard and the UK authorities have no other possible actions, as they reported that no investigation can be held before the fire is extinguished and the specialists inspect and check the place of the explosion. The crew members of MSC Flaminia commented that the fire started in cargo hold number 4, where were loaded some containers with combustible bleaching agent calcium hypochlorite.
(more…)
Explosion on MSC Flaminia in the mid Atlantic
Fire and explosion on board of the container ship MSC Flaminia, caused full evacuation of the vessel. The ship was carrying over 6500 TEU from the US port Charleston to Antwerpen Belgium, when suffered fire in one of the cargo holds in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. The reason of the fire was most probably due to wrong manifest in the container documents. The ship exploded and after that was caught on fire, which injured 4 crew members. The distress signal was sent from the navigation officer at 1007 on 14th July 2012 and the Falmouth Coastguard asked the crew to abandon the container ship MSC Flaminia. After the accident one of the crew members is missing and 2 are seriously injured. The scene of the incident was in the middle of the Atlantic ocean, so the closest vessels were about 6 hours away from MSC Flaminia, but when getting the distress signal changed courses to the ship in fire. On the place arrived five merchant ships and a few rescue boats, wh…
Chariot ship was released from Greek authorities
The Russian cargo ship Chariot was released and continued the voyage to Bar, Montenegro. As we already informed you, the vessel was arrested yesterday in the Greek port Zakynthos with accuses for traffic of military cargo to Montenegro. The cargo ship Chariot had some undeclared cargo types and some missing documents, which was the reason of the arrest. After the second check of the Greek authorities the ship was released the continue the voyage to the Balkan country with the cargo. However on board of the ship were found large quantity of alcohol and cigarettes, but this was not enough for extending the arrest of the ship, but against the seamen is getting investigation for traffic. The Russian cargo ship Chariot was carrying military cargo from Ukraine to Montenegro and the estimated time of arrival (ETA) is in the afternoon of 13th July 2012.
(more…)
Chemical Tanker May 1 reported engine failure in the Indian Ocean
The chemical tanker May 1 reported blackout, while making an empty voyage to the repair yard in Mangalore, India. The ship was in poor condition and has engine problems, which was the reason for the planned repair in the Indian shipyard. The accident happened on a few nautical miles off Colachel port in India. The ship started the voyage from Port Klang, where the officers discharged the cargo and complained from repeated problems in the machinery and the main engine. The ship-owner send the vessel to repair into the yard in Mangalore, but the chemical tanker May 1 suffered more serious engine failure during the voyage. The vessel was blacked out more than 2 hours, but the sea was calm and there were no accidents and no injured people.
(more…)