Seems a bit harsh

[John Arton]

The captain of a container vessel that lost 50 containers overboard has been arrested and charged by an Australian court.
Apparently previous inspection had raised concerns that container fittings on deck were corroded as lashings were not correct. If these inspection reports are correct and the vessels owners/managers were aware of the findings, then it was up to them to rectify the faults, unless the master had failed to inform them of the inspection report, also if the inspector who reported the defects thought they were so serious, why did he allow the vessel to depart port after the inspection?
Rgds
J.A.
https://gcaptain.com/apl-england-mas...eid=3b737aa316

[Ivan Cloherty]

John, I agree that the action taken against the Master is harsh, on most, if not all, container vessels the Master and officers have little control over the lashing and twist locking of containers, as these are controlled by local laws in a lot of ports which insist all such work is the stevedores domain. Vessels these days do not carry sufficient crews to follow all the actions of stevedores or are able to access all twist locks, but of course there has to be a fall guy, and alas it comes with the territory, even if you do not have full control of the territory in practice, but alas you have in theory.

Was watching a programme last night about a floating crane breaking adrift from its tow off Capetown in bad weather, the Russian Master of the Russian tug was kept in jail for six years during the protracted inquiry and the crime of being in charge of a tug with insufficient power for the task, he incidentally had not arranged the tow contract, it was the owners safe in Russia, the buck doesn't always stop with the correct people.

Of course these are not isolated incidents, as Masters both of Merchant and Naval vessels are becoming convenient scapegoats and it is becoming more prevalent.

[j.sabourn]

Usual story, there has always got to be someone to blame , the Master is the owners representative so he has to carry it, in cases of anything maritime you are guilty until proved innocent. JS.

[happy daze john in oz]

It is nothing new as I am sure you are all aware of.
My neighbor is in charge f the cranes in one of the Port Melbourne sections.
He told me it is not uncommon to see ships come in with missing containers or some just about hanging on.
Makes for one hell of a job getting some of them off.
There must be thousands out there in the seas somewhere.

[Ivan Cloherty]

#4 apparently circa 17,000 lost during period 2017 - 2019, but is any seafarer surprised with stacks 10 - 15 containers high, the dynamic forces must be immense when the vessel rolls in heavy seas.

[Red Lead Ted]

I was just thinking of some of the old rust buckets i sailed in, I am not taking the thread of track, But i and most of us who where on deck can relate to the same problem when you put your life on the line going aloft some of the ring bolts where worse for wear and thinking of the top mast in particular i never trusted the ships gear i would always improvise and make my own strops or lizards fast in a more lets say solid area. Yes container ships take a hammering as Ivan points out, And this isn't an isolated incident its happening all the time. Why the skipper took the wrap so to speak is beyond me i am sure we all on deck at some point gave this a thought, Could it have been incompetence on the crews ability to make the said containers fast, The few container ships i was in the mate and bosun would check all lashings before sailing Chains/ Bottle screws / Twist locks / But if the ships gear was corroded and not sea worthy surly after it being reported to the ships company, Its them who should be answering questions in court not the skipper who was always pressured to put to sea on time by ships agents who represent the company.

[Keith Tindell]

I can remember them coming ashore on the Island when the Aeolian Sky ran aground down the Devon or Dorset coast, in the fire service we were sent out to check the contents for chemicals, two i recall, one had printing paper, the other contained bright yellow back pack sprays, the doors broke open with the seas right on the beach, the nearest road was a quarter of a mile away, and the container was at the foot of a short cliff, i often wonder if it was retrieved, or just allowed to wash out back to sea and sink. As a matter of interest, we still get the yellow plastic part of the back pack coming ashore now and again, so that must be 25-30 years floating up and down the channel, kt

[j.sabourn]

Keith sounds like a good question for a bar quiz . What is a floating container ? is it flotsam or jetsam.. or could it be either ?. JS.