Danger or failure of ship and/or its own equipment

       The legal requirement to demonstrate that the vessel was seaworthy effectively means that an owner has to be able to prove thar, for the particular trade in which the vessel is involved, her hull, machinery and equipment are properly maintained, and that there are on board, sufficient stores, provisions, bunkers etc.

 

CASE STUDY

The subject vessel was a chemical tanker, on passage from Swansea to Gothenburg and Fredericia. She was loaded with 990 MT of ethanol and isopropanol. She sailed from Swansea on 12 December, 1981.

On 13 December, the vessel met severe heavy weather with winds up to force 10. During the morning of 14 December, the wind increased to force 11. The vessel passed through the Dover Straits, and at 0648 hours, the Sandettie NE buoy was seen close on the starboard bow. The vessel's helm was put immediately hard over to port, but this failed to have any effect on her set. At 0650 hours, a bump was felt on her starboard quarter followed by an explosion and abnormal noises from the engine room.

It was assumed that the propeller had touched the chain of the buoy. The 2nd engineer, on duty in the engine room, promptly advised that the main engine gear box was vibrating and that smoke was issuing from the stern gland. He requested that the engine be stopped.

On stopping the main engine, an inspection was made of the main engine gear box, and it was observed that the gearbox casing had been completely fractured just above the holding down bolts. It was also noted that the propeller was being turned by water movement. In addition an inspection was made of the stern tube seals. These appeared to be intact as there was no evidence of leakage into the engine room.

A mayday call was sent by radio at 0655 hours requesting immediate tug assistance. The call was answered by the Dover and French coastguards, and another vessel in the vicinity agreed to stand by until a suitable tug arrived.

Attempts were made by the ship's engineers to secure the shafting, but these were unsuccessful due to heavy seas turning the propeller. A constant watch was kept on the vessel's position. Due to the strong WSW wind causing the vessel to drift towards Fairy Bank and the anticipated change in the current direction, the master decided to anchor. At 0750 hours the port anchor was let go with the Fairy Bank buoy bearing 105 degrees, at a distance of two miles.

    The vessel made radio contact with a tug steaming from Dunkirk at 1100 hours. The master of the tug requested agreement of the service being rendered under Lloyd's Open Form of salvage agreement[1]. This was accepted by the master, and the tug came alongside at 1105 hours, at which time the standby vessel was released.

The master explained to the tug master that prior to commencement of tow, the vessel's propeller shaft would need to be secured to avert the possibility of the propeller turning (due to movement through the water), and causing failure of the stern tube seals. To assist this operation, the tug master was requested to hold the vessel's head to windward. Connection of the tow was completed at 1227 hours, and by 1235 hours, the tug had hauled the vessel's head to windward. The ship's engineers then secured the propeller shaft and gear box using timber, wires and bottle screws.

This work was completed by 1740 hours when the port anchor was weighed, and towage towards Dunkirk commenced. The vessel arrived in berth at Dunkirk at 2400 hours, following which the tug master boarded, and the redelivery certificate was signed by the master.

The following morning, the master attended the offices of the tug owners and signed Lloyd's Open Form of salvage agreement. Security was lodged by the owners with Lloyd's (£220,390 for the ship and freight and £29,610 for cargo).

On 15 December, a surveyor, appointed on behalf of hull underwriters, accompanied by another surveyor, acting on behalf of the classification society, and owners' superintendent, made an examination of the damage to the M.E. gear box. A diver was employed to inspect the vessel's bottom and stern area. The diver's report showed that two blades of the four bladed propellers were damaged, one of them damaged severely.

It now became apparent that the vessel's cargo would need to be discharged before the vessel could be repaired. As Dunkirk had no facilities for storage of the alcohol, it would become necessary to tow the vessel to a suitable port. Enquiries revealed that there were alcohol storage tanks available in Antwerp. A contract was arranged with the owners of the salvage tug for towage to Antwerp.

The classification surveyor agreed to permit towage, provided that the propeller shaft and gear box were secured in order to prevent the propeller turning during towage. The work was completed on 16 December, and the vessel left Dunkirk at 1145 hours under tow of the attending tug.

The tow was handed over to Antwerp tugs at the entrance to the river Scheldt, and the tow continued to Antwerp where the vessel berthed alongside the shore tank installations at 1118 hours on 17 December. Discharge of the cargo into the shore tanks was commenced at 1625 hours, and completed by 0305 hours on the 18 December. At this stage, gas freeing of the vessel's cargo tanks began. At Dunkirk, a specification for repair of damage was drawn up, and two repair contractors in Antwerp and Hamburg were requested to submit repair quotations. On the basis of these quotations, the repair contract was awarded to an Antwerp yard.

The vessel dry-docked following completion of gas freeing on 18 December. She was attended by the hull underwriters' surveyor and owners' superintendent. On examination it was found that the intermediate gear box casing, lower gear box casing, and the forward bearing housing were fractured. In addition, the gear teeth on both the pinion and main gear wheels were chipped and hammered, the flexible coupling was damaged, the intermediate shaft bearing brasses were fractured and distorted, three propeller blades were damaged to varying degrees, the tail shaft was bent, and finally, the tail shaft coupling bolts were damaged.

In view of the extensive damage, the gear box needed to be replaced. Enquiries revealed that a suitable gear box was not immediately available. The manufacturers of the original gear box agreed to deliver a new gear box by the end of March, 1982. The damaged gear box and coupling were removed from the vessel on the 23 December and delivered to the gear box manufacturers in order that some of the undamaged parts could be used in the new gear box.

The vessel remained in dry-dock until 29 January during which time all repairs apart from the work connected with the gear box and flexible coupling were undertaken. She was then placed alongside a lay-by berth awaiting arrival of the new gear box. In view of the anticipated delay to the vessel, arrangements were made to charter a substitute vessel for delivery of the cargo to its destination. Loading of the cargo into the substitute vessel was carried out on 8 January. The cargo was delivered at Gothenburg on 11 January and at Fredericia on 12 January. The new gear box and repaired flexible coupling were delivered to the yard on 27 March and fitted into the engine room. Installation of the gear box and realignment of the main engine were completed on 8 April. Following satisfactory engine trials and class approval, the vessel left Antwerp at 1648 hours the same day.

Under the terms of the Lloyd's Open Form of salvage agreement, negotiations were subsequently opened between various lawyers representing the ship and freight, cargo, and the tug owners. The parties agreed to a salvage settlement of £100,000 plus the costs of the salvors' lawyers of £2,918.57. This amount of £102,918.57 was apportioned between ship and freight and cargo on the basis of the value adopted during negotiations, and the relative amounts were settled by the respective parties.

Answer the questions.

1. Where was the Sandetti NE buoy seen at 0648 hours?

2. What did the helmsman do which had no effect on the vessel’s set?

3. What incident occurred?

4. What kind of damage did the gearbox sustain?

5. What was wrong with the propeller?

6. What kind of agreement did the tug request for her service?

7. How did the tug help the vessel?

8. Who made an examination of the damage to the M.E. gear box?

9. Was it possible to discharge the vessel’s cargo?

10.  Why was the vessel towed to Antwerp?

11. Who attended the vessel after she had been dry-docked?

12. What salvage settlement did the parties agree to?

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