| The vessel was carrying paper rolls on a voyage from Canada to Europe during winter in the North Atlantic. During the loading operation the stevedores left a lot of void space between the stacks. Cargo of different heights and width had also been stowed in the same stacks. The chief officer voiced his concern to the stevedores about the poor loading. The stevedores threatened to stop working and involve the union. This could potentially delay the vessel so the chief officer decided not to request the stevedores to reload the vessel. It has not been established why the chief officer did not realize that there was a substantial risk that the cargo would shift if it was not properly loaded and secured. The vessel departed on a SW course at a speed of about 13 knots, visibility was limited. At the beginning of the journey the vessel was protected by islands but when entering the North Atlantic the vessel encountered even more adverse weather with force 9-10 ENE winds which later fell to force 6-8 ESE with rough seas of around 6m. During this time the vessel heeled heavily 12-15 times in excess of 30°, causing the paper rolls to shift due to not being properly stowed. The crew tried to secure the cargo by inflating and placing extra air cushions and rubber bags between the cargo rolls that had shifted, but without much success. One AB was ordered to stay in the cargo hold and monitor the situation. By taking at least some minimum proactive measures the crew could have tried to secure the cargo with air cushions and rubber bags. The anti-heeling system could have been started earlier and the GM lowered. It is likely that there would have been less damage if the vessel had applied varying courses and reduced speed to avoid the major heeling as soon as they encountered severe weather. Anti-heeling tanks were finally started by the chief officer, side tanks filled and double bottom tanks emptied to lower the GM but it was too late. The vessel eventually altered course to avoid most of the adverse weather. | WHAT? Damage to cargo in severe weather
1 WHY? The stevedores had not secured the cargo correctly and had not followed correct procedures.
2 WHY? The crew did not request the stevedores to load the cargo correctly.
 3 WHY? Stevedores had threatened that they would stop loading if the crew interfered.
4 WHY? The crew was not firm enough with the stevedores and was unfamiliar with how to deal with the situation and let the stevedores continue loading.
 5 WHY? No clear guidelines from the office on how to deal with stevedores. The vessel did not carry out enough preventive matters before proceeding into adverse weather.
Consequences: the cargo shift caused extensive damage to over 2000 rolls, which resulted in a serious claim. |
