REGISTER ROLE: a new person is being sought to spearhead the UK government’s efforts to revive the red ensign fleet after the director of the UK Ship Register left the post after just a few months in the job. The Maritime & Coastguard Agency said former seafarer Simon Barham had resigned for personal reasons and on good terms. The position, which pays up to £90,000 a year, is being filled on a temporary basis by the MCA’s assistant director for business improvement and assurance, Richard Pellew.

CARGO WARNING: The International Federation of Ship Masters’ Associations has voiced frustration at the slow progress being made to improve the safety of bauxite cargoes. IFSMA delegates warned the International Maritime Organisation last month of concerns about ambiguities in proposed advice on liquefaction dangers and said masters should be involved in the moisture testing of bauxite prior to loading.

FLAG CHANGE: The International Transport Workers’ Federation has given a guarded welcome to the Cambodian government’s promise to turn its flag into a genuine national ship register. ITF maritime coordinator Jacqueline Smith said the flag was one of most disreputable in the world and while reform would be supported, Cambodia had sent ‘mixed messages’ about its intentions for the register.

CLAIMS CONCERN: the first half of this year has seen a further fall in the number of shipping accidents, the Nordic Association of Marine Insurers (Cefor) has reported. However, it expressed concern about the increasing risks of a high-value major loss as a consequence of the growing size and complexity of merchant ships. It also warned of an increase in the cost of fire and explosion claims.

CHEMICAL ROLE: The Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessel Mounts Bay took part in a Danish-led operation last month to transport the last batch of material which could be used to make chemical weapons from Libya. Defence secretary Michael Fallon praised the RFA’s role in escorting the merchant ship carrying the material.

MLC BOOST: Indonesia’s government has approved the ratification of the Maritime Labour Convention. Algeria has also signed up to the convention, meaning that the ‘bill of rights’ for seafarers will soon be backed by 80 countries representing more than 90% of world tonnage.

LIFEBOAT CALL: Nautilus has called for radical new thinking to end the loss of life among merchant seafarers taking part in lifeboat drills. The call came after two crew members died and three others were injured on board the cruiseship Harmony of the Seas.

CRUISE TALLY: for the first time ever the value of global orders for cruiseships during is higher than the tally for all other merchant ships and other civil vessels taken together, with 25 contracts and letters of intention worth a total US$14bn.

SEATRUCK SERVICE: The Irish Sea freight operator Seatruck Ferries has commenced a weekend service between the ports of Bristol and Dublin using a vessel that would otherwise be idle during weekends.

BOXSHIP GROUNDS: the 17,859TEU containership CMA CGM Vasco Da Gama had to have an underwater survey after briefly grounding while approaching the UK port of Southampton.

CONTAINER COMPLIANCE: The World Shipping Council has reported a 95% compliance rate with the verified gross mass box weighing requirements, which were introduced on 1 July.

PLA FIRST: The Port of London Authority is set to become the first UK port to introduce discounts for vessels with low emissions of nitrogen oxide, sulphur oxide and carbon dioxide.

OSV ALERT: the global off shore support vessel market could decline even further as a result of low demand and excess tonnage, a major bank has warned. DNB Markets said exploration and production spending is set to fall by between 5% and 12% over the next year, at a time when the global OSV market is over-supplied by more than 2,000 vessels and a lack of scrapping is increasing the glut.

OUTPUT UP: Scottish government statistics show that UKCS oil and gas production rose by more than 21% last year, the largest annual increase since records began in 1999. Economy minister Keith Brown described the figures as encouraging, but noted that the value of sales had declined to £13.4bn because of the low oil price. He said the Scottish government had made £12m available to help workers retrain to alternative employment.

MAERSK WORK: Maersk Supply Service has won a subsea decommissioning contract from Maersk Oil UK under which 10 anchor handlers, platform supply and subsea support vessels will be deployed at the Janice subsea field in the North Sea in a project scheduled for completion in summer 2018.

CHINESE STAKE: China has become the North Sea’s biggest operator, according to a report last month. The stake held by Chinese state-run firms in the UKCS has prompted concerns over the security of UK energy supplies, the Daily Mirror reported. SHELL RECORD: Shell has started production at the world’s deepest underwater oil and gas field, some 1.8 miles below the sea surface in the Gulf of Mexico’s Stones Field.

CREW REVOLT: Ukrainian special forces were deployed to the Turkish-flagged cargoship Mehmet Unlu after the vessel sent a distress call, reporting that the master and three other seafarers had been wounded by two crew members who had cut off the power and taken five of their colleagues hostage. A team from Ukraine’s SBU special operations unit was sent to the ship, 11 nm off Odessa, and released the crew and arrested the two ‘mutineers’. Five injured seafarers were taken to hospital for treatment.

FRENCH INCREASE: the 12 maritime schools in France have reported an increase in new students this year. September’s intake totalled 1,916 young people, up from 1,859 last year. Seafaring unions have expressed concern that only 10% of the new recruits are women, a figure which has remained static for years, and owners are in discussions about ways in which more female trainees can be taken on by the industry.

EXPEDITION ORDERS: Hamburg-based Hapag-Lloyd Cruises has ordered two 16,100gt expedition cruiseships, each with a capacity for 240 passengers and 170 crew. Scheduled for launch in April and October 2019, the vessels will operate polar cruises in the Arctic and Antarctica and to warm water destinations such as the Amazon.

UKRAINE BAN: foreign seafarers serving on ships visiting ports in Crimea face a three-year ban from Ukraine, the country’s authorities have warned. Any seafarers found to have visited Crimea in the previous three years face a fine or up to 15 days imprisonment if they are caught trying to enter Ukraine.

SAMSKIP EXPANDS: Rotterdam-based Samskip has acquired Norway’s Euro Container Line to expand reefer activity and strengthen its presence in Scandinavia. The €2.5m deal is set to increase Samskip’s total annual Norwegian volumes from 55,000TEU to 90,000TEU.

BUILDING CUTS: unions have warned that South Korea’s ‘big three’ shipbuilders, HHI, SHI and DSME, have cut 3,000 jobs so far this year in response to a slump in new orders. It is feared that as many as 6,000 posts will go this year as part of restructuring measures.

ASIAN BOOST: Royal Caribbean International is boosting its capacity in SE Asia by 30% over the next year, with plans to deploy three cruiseships to operate a total of 55 cruises with 200,000 passengers over an eight-month season.

ENGINEERS INJURED: two engineer officers were airlifted to hospital after an explosion in the engine room of the Madeira-flagged product tanker Weichselstern off the German port of Hamburg last month.

COMPANY FINED: The South Korean operator Doorae Shipping has been fined US$275,000 and given three years’ probation for failing to maintain an accurate oil record book on board its tanker B Pacific.

WRECK REMOVED: an operation to recover the wreck of the Dutch vessel Flinterstar from Belgian waters has been completed a month ahead of schedule. The 6,577gt general cargoship partially sank on a sandbank close to the approaches to Antwerp and Vlissingen following a collision with the LNG tanker Al-Oraiq in October 2015. The salvage work was led by Scaldis, a Belgian maritime consortium, but responsibility for the costs of the operation will not be decided until accident investigations are completed.

GROUNDING CLAIM: The Australian government is claiming A$120m (€80m) damages from a Chinese shipowner following an incident in which the bulk carrier Shen Neng 1 ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef in 2010. The vessel’s owners and the P&I Club claim the clean-up costs were ‘unrealistic’ and want damages to be pegged at A$23m. But the Australian government argues that the bulker severely damaged or destroyed an 115,000 sq m area of the reef.

PONANT JOBS: The French luxury cruiseship operator Ponant is to increase its seafaring workforce from 800 to 1,300 following a decision to build four new 180-passenger ‘expedition’ vessels. The 10,000gt vessels will operate French flag and the company says around half of the new seafarers it plans to recruit will be French nationals.

LNG DRIVE: three companies —France’s Engie, and Mitsubishi and NYK Line of Japan, have launched a joint operation called Gas4Sea to promote the use of LNG as a marine fuel. Gas4Sea begins operations this month with a purpose-built 5,000 cu m LNG bunkering vessel to operate at Zeebrugge and other nearby ports.

EMISSION TARGET: Euro-MPs are backing plans to include shipping in the European Union’s emissions trading system (ETS) with effect from 2021. Operators would be required to buy ETS allowances or pay an equivalent into new climate funds to support carbonsaving retrofitting and innovative technologies.

INDIAN AID: India’s shipping ministry has announced plans to increase coastal shipping services with a package of aid to improve the country’s ports. The scheme aims to cut delays for ships through improved berthing facilities, more efficient cargo and passenger handling, and dredging of important channels.

SHORE POWER: four Baltic ports, Tallinn in Estonia, Stockholm in Sweden, and Helsinki and Turku in Finland, have signed an agreement to take a common approach to providing onshore power supplies to berthed ferries in a drive to reduce harmful emissions.

ROUTE RE-OPENS: a ‘motorway of the sea’ linking the French port of Montoir with Gijón in Spain is set to re-open at the end of the year, after the European Union granted a €1m subsidy for the ro-ro service. BIG SWITCH: the world’s biggest ship, the 441,600dwt tanker TI Europe, is switching from the Belgian flag to the French RIF international register.

US study reveals shortfalls in VTS

An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) highlights shortcomings in training and experience of US Coast Guard VTS staff, widespread variations in VTS practices, and a failure to measure the effectiveness of the system.

The NTSB noted that an average of 18% of collisions, allisions and groundings between 2010 and 2014 occurred inside the 12 USCG VTS areas. ‘The most common causal factor assigned to these accidents by the Coast Guard was inattention errors by the mariners involved, which suggests that an opportunity exists for the VTS system to further reduce the risk of these types of accident by taking a more proactive role in traffic management,’ the study says.

Investigations showed the Coast Guard had not developed a standard method to measure the safety performance of the VTS system and that the centres did not collect and use data on traffic, incidents and near-misses in a consistent way.

Many of the VTS watch supervisors and operators were reluctant to use their authority to direct ships, the study noted, and this was often the result of widespread misunderstandings about the extent of VTS authority and ‘ongoing staffing and experience deficits’ in the workforce.

On-the-job training was found to be inconsistent, and because not all watch supervisors are required to achieve a VTS operator qualification, the USCG could not guarantee their proficiency in skills such as detecting and recognising traffic conflicts and other unsafe situations. Some of the VTS watchstanders were found to lack confidence in applying the navigation rules when unsafe situations are detected because of a lack of knowledge of the regulations.

The research also found that cooperation between pilots and the VTS operators ‘is often adversely affected by a negative perception of VTS expertise because most VTS watchstanders are not licensed mariners with work experience on commercial vessels’. The study says the USCG has not been enforcing the use of standardised VTS phrases and message markers ‘which can lead to miscommunication with mariners during safety critical situations’.

The report contains 21 recommendations to improve VTS performance and safety. ‘Variance within a single safety system is itself a potential hazard and mariners travelling from one VTS to another must be able to rely on consistent Coast Guard services,’ said NTSB chairman Christopher Hart. ‘The recommendations contained in our safety study, if acted upon, will improve the effectiveness of the VTS system throughout America’s waterways.’

(With thanks to the Nautilus Telegraph:  https://www.nautilusint.org)

**  Contributions  **

Report writing courses

As a consequence of my writing, I get asked to give training courses to various shipping organisations, mostly on report writing. After the usual introductions, I give the attendees a small task to do. I give each of them a piece of blank paper and a pencil and ask one of them to stand in front of the class to get them to draw an object.

The object is quite simple, made up of three one inch squares, a one-inch diameter circle and a one inch sided equilateral triangle in a particular configuration. The person up front must get the others to reproduce the diagram that I have given him/her. However, during the first exercise he is the only one allowed to speak with the others not allowed to ask questions, ie, one-way communication.

A second person is then asked to do the same exercise with the same objects in a different configuration, this time the others being allowed to ask questions, ie, two-way communication.

Usually only 10 percent of the group get the diagram correct from the first exercise whereas around ninety percent get it right from the second exercise. This percentage will increase with the skill of the person giving the instructions and depending on whether there are mixed nationalities.

It is then pointed out to the group that the second exercise demonstrates the format for the ensuing course, ie, that there should be two-way communication with everybody prepared to contribute to the discussions.

It is further pointed out that the first exercise represents what is happening when you write a report for your client, ie, one-way communication, the aim being for the client not to have to ask any further questions for clarification of your report. From the first exercise it can be seen that the report writer must be accurate and succinct to ensure that he gets the message across.

Mike Wall

**  Offshore  **

None this month.

**  Pleasure Craft  **

Supersizing ‘driving up officer qualifications’

The growing size of superyachts is resulting in an increasing number of officers upgrading their restricted yacht certificates of competency to full ‘unlimited’ Merchant Navy qualifications.

That’s the view of Lars Lippuner, director at Warsash Superyacht Academy, who notes that officers holding restricted certificate of competency such as the OOW or chief mate (yachts less than 3,000 gt) because their job prospects might otherwise be limited as a result of the increasing demand for 3,000 gt-plus yachts.

‘We see many yacht officers returning to upgrade their yacht restricted certificates of competency to full “unlimited” MN qualifications, a demand driven by the increase in the number of yachts above 3,000gt and yachts coded to the Passenger Yacht code, which all require officers with unlimited certification,’ he explained.

Evidence of this growth was highlighted at last year’s Monaco Yacht Show, where the average length of boats was 47m, 15m longer than when the event first started. The increase in both the number and size of yachts has also meant more crew course bookings in general, with Warsash reporting increases of up to 50% in the numbers of students.

‘Upskilling from crew to officer rank, and from restricted to unrestricted officer qualifications continue to be factors that drive increased yacht sector demand for maritime education and training,’ Mr Lippuner said.

Skill shortages are holding back growth in the British marine industry, companies warned last month. Technical and engineering expertise is in particularly short supply, according to a new report. Figures published by British Marine at the Southampton Boat Show noted that recruitment across the UK marine sector is set to rise 2% this year, with the majority of workforce growth in boat manufacturing and the equipment supply chain.

The industry’s 4,500 businesses now employ 31,600 people, but 30% complain of critical skills gaps. Many companies are now taking on apprentices, with superyacht manufacturer Princess Yachts having a total of 91.

British Marine chief executive Howard Pridding commented: ‘The marine industry is dynamic and growing. We offer variety, good pay and opportunities to work at some world-leading companies. Businesses want to take on more staff but a lack of relevant skills is a barrier, and while many of our members are taking on the challenge themselves, more can be done by government to back the industry.

‘We welcome the renewed emphasis on an industrial strategy, but it is crucial that the marine sector forms a central part of any plan and is given the support it needs.’

**  Technical  & Safety **

USCG issues Safety Alert on Inflatable Life Jackets
Posted by LT Katie Braynard, USCG Monday, September 12, 2016The Coast Guard issued Marine Safety Alert 13-16 to remind all inflatable life jacket users of the importance of performing periodic maintenance on their equipment. Instances of fatal accidents where inflatable life jackets failed to properly inflate have been documented. When a life jacket fails to inflate properly, the results can be life threatening.
In light of these instances, the Coast Guard highly recommends routine maintenance, service, and inspection in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.

USCG issues Safety Alert reminding its Container Inspectors and others involved in the inspection or handling of intermodal containers that there is always a risk of exposure to hazardous materials, whether the containers are marked as containing HAZMAT or not.

During a recent review of Coast Guard container inspector injuries, there were several instances related to acute exposures to hazardous materials. In all reported instances, exposed inspection personnel immediately backed away from the container to a safe distance and sought medical treatment and professional response to the release.
Indications of hazards can include oxygen deficient environments, hazardous material leaks, odors or sounds (such as when compressed gas is released), symptoms of dizziness or light-headedness, and any other indications.
The causes for these reported exposures and hazardous situations varied but included:

•     Cargoes shifting in shipment and damaged packaging, blocking, and bracing;

•     Poorly secured cylinders or unsecured lids on drums;

•     Container vents taped shut from the inside and, as such, not visible to inspectors; and

•      Improper loading of the container and undeclared hazardous materials off-gassing due to temperature and/or humidity changes.

The Coast Guard strongly recommends that port professionals, shippers, and industry personnel working with containerized cargo follow all best practices and meet all safety requirements during each stage of the transportation stream.
Safely package, stow, and handle containers and cargo and immediately address any situation involving hazardous materials by contacting the appropriate private or public emergency response organizations.
Never underestimate the importance of:

•     Properly loading containers and using proper hazardous material communication (e.g., placards and labels) in accordance with domestic and international regulations;

•     Following established safety procedures when conducting container inspections; and

•     Knowing hazardous material release protocols, including evacuation procedures when hazards are identified or suspected

Obviously this alert would also apply to marine surveyors, whether insurance company personnel or third party contractors. For additional information on the alert go to: http://www.marinelog.com/images/PDF/safety_alert.pdf

Experience at sea is the best safety training
A perceived overreliance by some ships’ crews on technology and a lack of crew experience is leading to safety concerns in the maritime industry, experts say. “There is no substitute for experience at sea,” said Steve Harris, senior vice president for Marsh Ltd.’s marine practice in London.

He said that while there are new safety measures, such as the Polar Code adopted by the International Maritime Organization in 2014, that require adequate training for crews of vessels entering the Arctic or Antarctic, “very few people with both the necessary experience and ability to train others exist.” He added that there are concerns about crews’ over-reliance on technology such as electronic chart displays and information systems. “There is a growing concern among the maritime community about “PlayStation syndrome,’ which is the overreliance on and trust in technology,” as well as the “hypnotic effect” of screens on ships’ bridges “to the point where perceptions of distance and clearances may become warped,”

Mr. Harris said. “Technology should be complementary to, rather than a replacement of, experience – both in the engine room and on the bridge,” Mr. Harris said. It is important to make training hands-on to “motivate crews to understand the importance of it,” said Andrew Kinsey, NAMS-CMS, senior marine risk consultant at Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty S.E. in New York. While vessels are increasing in size, crews are getting smaller because of the economic pressures facing the shipping industry, he said. In addition, he said, many mariners are on short contracts of only six months or one year, again as a result of the economic facing their employers.

“There is a shortage worldwide of experienced” crew, Mr. Kinsey said. He said that the current generation of seafarers has grown up with video games, but online training, for example, does not necessarily equate to carrying out a job. Therefore, he said, training “needs to reflect reality and consequences.” But Joe Hughes, chairman and CEO of Shipowners Claims Bureau Inc. in New York, said concerns over crew experience – or lack thereof – are probably lower now than they were from 2003 to 2008, “when the shipping boom was creating a real crisis of human resources within the maritime industry.” Indeed, he added, the slump in the maritime industry may now be creating a glut of workers.

(Business Insurance, 7/31/2016) Courtesy AIMU Weekly Bulletin.

MV Windoc-Allanburg Bridge Collision – 11 August 2001
On 11 August 2001, the motor vessel Windoc and the Allanburg Bridge suffered a collision. Ship-bridge collisions are rare, because a true collision requires that both objects be in motion at the time of impact. The Allanburg Bridge (also referred to as Bridge 11) is a lift bridge over the Welland Canal at Allanburg, Ontario. The Windoc was downbound and passing under the lift span when the span unexpectedly lowered. The vessel’s wheelhouse and funnel were destroyed. The vessel drifted downstream, caught fire, and grounded approximately 800 meters from the bridge. The vessel was eventually declared a constructive total loss. The bridge sustained structural damage and the Welland Canal was closed to vessel traffic for two days. Amazingly, there were no injuries, the master, third mate, and helmsman escaping down a ladder just before impact.

The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (operator of the bridge) initially denied responsibility, but later paid damages after the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) of Canada issued a report (M01C0054) finding that the performance of the individual operating the bridge at the time was “likely impaired” when he lowered the span prematurely. A short, but interesting, video of the collision and its immediate aftermath is also available.

(With thanks to NAMSGlobal E-News)

**  Cargo  **
Container Shipping Industry to Benefit from Harmonised Interchange Inspection Criteria
London, Friday July 1st 2016: In a significant breakthrough for the container shipping business, the two criteria currently used when inspecting containers during the interchange process between operators and leasing companies are now to be harmonised.
Until now, there have been two different interchange inspection standards: the “IICL-5” criteria (managed by the Institute of International Container Lessors); and the “Common Interchange Criteria”, administered by the CIC Group of leasing companies, comprising five of the world’s leading container lessors (Triton Container, Seaco, Florens Container Services, CAI and Blue Sky Intermodal) who represent over 50 percent of the world’s leased dry freight container fleet.
Launched in August 2007 as an alternative to the IICL-5 criteria – and endorsed the following year by the Container Owners Association – CIC has enabled shipping lines to benefit from a significant reduction in repair costs by eliminating unnecessary repair to containers. An additional advantage has been a more environmentally friendly approach to container maintenance, with reduced container handling.
The harmonisation process has been undertaken by the leasing industry, which has recognised that the container business, ie, shipping lines, leasing companies and container depots, will benefit from a single standard. Discussions have taken place in recent months between CIC members and the IICL as to how the two different criteria might be harmonised.
Although there are some small adjustments to the most recent version of CIC (see Table below), the new standard preserves all the main benefits offered by CIC. It also offers more consistent and accurate equipment inspections and repair estimates, bringing efficiencies to all parties.
The harmonisation is taking place simultaneously with the introduction of the IICL 6th edition into the industry (“IICL-6”). Both, CIC and IICL members expect that the harmonised interchange standards will create a better path to more accurate estimates, less disputes and more trained professional inspectors.

The updated version of the CIC standard is scheduled to be introduced for off-hire activity taking place from August 1st, 2016 onwards.
A technical bulletin is available on the CIC website (www.cic-standards.info) and also on the COA’s website (www.containerownersassociation.org). For further information please contact Patrick Hicks at the COA Secretariat on [email protected]  or telephone +44(0)20 8390 0000.

(With thanks to NAMSGlobal E-News)

 

**  Insurance **

Call for rethink on container ship fires

Recent ship fires have caused the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) to call for a reevaluation of the fire-fighting equipment used on container ships. The call comes just as the Wan Hai 307 container ship suffered a fire in Hong Kong. The ship’s crew were unable to extinguish the fire, and local salvage tugs were deployed to help. Uwe-Peter Schieder, Vice Chairman of IUMI’s Loss Prevention Committee explains how he sees recent incidents: “At sea, below-deck fires cannot be fought with water and so CO2 is used instead to displace the oxygen and extinguish the fire. However, if the fire is burning within a container, the box will protect it from the CO2 and so this method of fire-fighting is rarely successful.

Currently there are no other methods of fighting a container ship fire below deck. Even on deck, the crew only have access to hoses and nozzles. They do not have sufficient monitors or foam and so cannot cool the vessel’s structure”. IUMI is concerned that seafarers are being asked to tackle onboard fires with inadequate equipment.

The Association highlights the incident on MSC Flaminia where three seafarers lost their lives. The vessel burned for almost six weeks, 70 percent of the cargo was destroyed and the ship was declared a Constructive Total Loss.

IUMI is well aware of the SOLAS regulations but is calling for further dialogue involving IMO, class, shipbuilders and shipping companies to further improve firefighting capabilities onboard container ships. http://maritime-executive.com/article/call-for-rethink-on-container-ship-fires  (International Maritime Organization, 9/20/2016)  Courtesy AIMU Weekly Bulletin.

(With thanks to NAMSGlobal E-News)

Insurers alarmed at rise in STS accidents

Marine insurers have called for owners and operators to improve safety procedures following a sharp rise in the number of accidents involving ship-to-ship (STS) operations.

The Shipowners P&I Club said it dealt with 83 collision cases involving STS operations last year and has had to handle a total of 81 collision claims so far this year. It also expressed concern at claims arising from poor cargo practices on board tankers during STS operations.

The club warned that an increase in the number of ships being laid-up is reducing the available sea room for STS operations, with approaches to ports and anchorages becoming increasingly congested.

In a safety bulletin last month, it called for careful planning of STS operations and urged seafarers to ‘exercise due caution while manoeuvring to berth alongside the mother vessel’.

It stressed the need for thorough consideration of factors such as traffic density, availability of good holding ground, weather conditions and local port regulations when selecting a safe STS transfer area.

The club said owners should review their procedures and ensure suitable training is given to the crew involved in STS work, with emphasis to be laid on establishing proper communication channels at all levels of operation and ensuring that all equipment being used is available and compatible.

** Legal **

Officer charged with manslaughter

A Russian chief engineer is facing a manslaughter charge in Brazil after two Filipino crew members died in an enclosed space on board a German-owned containership in the port of Fazendinha.

Prosecutors said Anton Shcherbak had been accused of causing the death of the two seamen on board the Liberian-registered Adrian in June 2013 and could face up to six years in prison if found guilty.

The two seafarers died in a pump room on board the 16,799gt vessel after being overcome by hydrogen sulphide, losing consciousness and drowning in water which had accumulated in the space.

Brazil’s Federal Public Ministry said the deaths were not intentional but charges were filed after an investigation showed that the chief engineer had been negligent and international safety requirements had not been followed, with no monitoring of the atmosphere in the space nor ventilation being provided.

The ministry says it plans to use international legal processes to bring the chief engineer to the federal court in Brazil and will also seek oral testimony from the ship’s Ukrainian master.