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Thread: Disasters at sea

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    Default Disasters at sea

    Last night on Yesterday channel there was a documentary on the loss of the Bow Mariner off the east coast of the USA. She sank after a fire and explosion with the loss of most of her crew, all because the Greek captain did not follow correct tank cleaning procedures, it was only by the bravery of the Filipino 3rd mate was a mayday message broadcast and coast guard rescue helicopter able to locate the survivors in the liferaft when the 3rd mate and released the EPIRB after making the distress call.
    My interest in it was I had worked for the ship owner previously and also still had friends who were managers in the shop owners offices at the time. The cargo that caused the explosion, MTBE, I had carried regularly when I was sailing in Stolt tankers.
    Rgds
    J.A.
    https://www.maritime-executive.com/a...n-faults-capta

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    Default Re: Disasters at sea

    John I have a limited experience in tankers but was lucky enough to survive a bad mistake on my own mis knowledge on the Kiwi coast and that was just with a cargo of automobile fuel. I thought I could get down the after pump room on one lungful of air and shut a partial opened valve , I got to the last 6 ladder steps and finished the journey on my nose breaking it for the second time in its history . The chinese crew pulled me out dressed properly in the proper gear , alive to fight another day. You learn by your mistakes and mine as regards tankers you follow the rules . The same as we should be doing in all aspects of life. Cheers JS.
    Last edited by j.sabourn; 23rd May 2021 at 12:51 PM.
    R575129

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    Default Re: Disasters at sea

    It's billed as a completely new series, yet I have seen it before. Interesting though.
    Vic

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    Default Re: Disasters at sea

    It just goes to show that not all the idiots are ashore.

    How can any one in charge of such a ship make such a stupid mistake?
    The other question, were any of the crew aware of what he wanted done, if so I am sure they would have dais no.

    But like so many other sea 'accidents' we can only hope some lesson, a very expensive one life wise. is learned.
    Happy daze John in Oz.

    Life is too short to blend in.

    John Strange R737787
    World Traveller

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    Post Re: Disasters at sea---BOW MARINER

    This is 'borrowed' /copied from our ex-shipmate Gulliver's Casualty Lists-so not sure if it's been posted before...



    BOW MARINER (Singapore Flag)
    39,821 dwt. Blt.1982
    [explosion 37.53N/74.15W 29.2.04 (21 died) ]-only 3 bodies recovered-). 6 survivors (Third Officer Lugen Ortilano on his first voyage as a licenced officer and second assistant engineer Edimar Aguilar, who joined the ship twenty three days before, Electrician James Bactat, Chief Cook Dominador Marentes, Messman Reynaldo Tagle and Able Seaman Ramon Ronquillo.)

    18 Filipino crew lost,and 3 Greek Officers(Captain Efstratios Kavouras, Chief Officer Spiridon Melles and Chief Engineer Legantis-Eley Anasthasiou.)
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



    …90 minutes after Third Officer Lugen Ortilano sent that distress call, the 174 metre long chemical tanker Bow Mariner was 77 metres down on the bottom of the Atlantic, 53.5 nautical miles off the Virginia coast. Twenty one of her 27 crew were dead or dying.
    More than thirteen and a half million litres of ethyl alcohol, 864 thousand litres of heavy fuel oil and 216 thousand litres of diesel had entered the ecosystem leaving a trail of pollution two and a half kilometres by 56 kilometres.
    The Bow Mariner and three quarters of her crew met their end because of mismanagement, ignorance, incompetence, intolerance and fraud.......



    Her voyage to the seabed began a month earlier, on January 24, 2004 at Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia when cargoes of 22,216 tonnes of methyl tert-butyl ether were loaded into 22 tanks along with 13.5 million litres of ethanol for final discharge in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She set sail for Port Said, Egypt under the command of Captain Efstratios Kavouras, with Chief Officer Spiridon Melles and Chief Engineer Legantis-Eley Anasthasiou, all of whom were Greek, the rest of the crew were Filipino.
    It was a significant moment for Third Officer Ortilano, it was his first voyage as a licenced officer..
    The cargo loading was supervised by Chief Engineer Melles. He did not trust his Filipino subordinates so he’d stay in the cargo control room when loading or unloading, and dozed in a chair when he felt tired. This was common practice throughout the fleet.
    Owned by Odfjell Asia and Singapore flagged, the Bow Mariner had an inert gas system so that cargo could be padded with nitrogen and empty tanks could be given a non-explosive atmosphere after discharge but it wasn’t used. There was no international regulation requiring it for the Bow Mariner but
    the ship’s operator, Ceres Hellenic Ship Enterprises required tanks to be inerted at all times unless being inspected or maintained. It was a requirement that was commonly ignored in the Ceres fleet of 21 chemical tankers. In practice, inerting was only carried out when required by a port state or facilit and Third Officer Ortilano had never seen it used.
    Why was the company requirement for tanks to be inerted at all time ignored? Maybe the then-Chief Officer of a sister ship give a clue. He dismissed the company’s cargo and ballast operations manual because his 30 years experience with chemical tankers was all he needed to do his job.
    Captain Kavouras evidently thought so, too. And he was wrong.
    Because the ship carried two totally enclosed lifeboats, either capable of carrying the ship’s entire compliment. the Bow Mariner did not carry immersion suits and none were aboard. Each lifeboat carried five Thermal Protective Aids. It was considered enough. That, too, was wrong.
    A little more than an hour before departure from Port Said, second assistant engineer Edimar Aguilar boarded the Bow Mariner. His predecessor passed him on the gangplank. There should have been at least a 72 hour hand-over but Aguilar’s predecessor was discharged for cause and getting him off the ship took precedence.
    Like the rest of those who survived, Aguilar did not complete the required familiarisation when he joined the ship. Those below the rank of chief engineer or chief officer were prohibited from reading the safety quality and environmental protection management system, the SQEMS.
    That document mandated safety procedures and defined the duties of those on board. On his first day aboard, Aguilar asked Chief Engineer Anasthasiou about procedures aboard the ship, he was told off for asking. He would be given verbal job orders, was only to do what he was told, and his only administrative duty was to fill in the log.
    The senior officers delegated no significant responsibilities, did not train their subordinates in the technical or administrative aspects of the job, and didn’t let them do the job they were supposed to do. Filipino junior officers were not allowed to eat in the officers mess.
    The crew were subject to verbal abuse and threats. So much so that they were too scared to question any action by the senior officers, no matter how unsafe.
    It was not a happy ship. The situation was not uncommon on other vessels in the fleet.
    Yet there was worse. Fire and boat drills were not being carried out monthly. Other training was scheduled and recorded in the minutes of the monthly safety committee meeting but not actuaully conducted. Parts of the safety committee meeting minutes were copied from one month to the next, complete with the same typographical errors.
    Bow Mariner arrived in Kali Limenes, Greece, on February 7, and loaded 1,200 tonnes of heavy fuel oil. On February 12 she arrived in Algecieras, Spain, and took on 200 tonnes of light. At 1600, now fully fuelled, she departed Algecieras for New York with an ETA of February 23. After unloaing, she was due for a charter’s inspection in Houston, Texas.
    Crossing the Atlantic, Bow Mariner hit heavy seas and gale force winds. She was forced to reduce speed. The vessel rolled and pitched, the decks were flooded. There was no opportunity to carry out the maintenance to make her ready for the charter’s inspection.
    On February 25, battered but undamaged and two days late, she arrived in New York and over the next three days unloaded the cargo of MTBE. The 22 empty tanks were not inerted.
    At 0500, Bow Mariner departed for Houston, Texas, under pressure from the upcoming charter’s inspection, lacking what would prove to be critical survival equipment, her crew inadequately trained, her safety documents little more than fiction, and vital safety procedures ignored.
    A little before 10.00, Captain Kavouras gave an astonishing order that would lead to the loss of the ship and the deaths of 18 seafarers, including his own.

    Owned by Odfjell Asia, operated by Ceres Hellic Shipping Enterprises and flagged in Singapore, Bow Mariner left New York at 0500 on February 28, 2004, 22 of her cargo tanks empty except for the vapour of Methyl Tert-Butyl Ether. The tanks were not inerted. Six of the ten remaining tanks contained 13.5 million litres of ethanol.
    Aboard her were three Greek senior officers: Captain Efstratios Kavouras, Chief Officer Spiridon Melles and Chief Engineer Legantis-Eley Anasthasiou, and 24 Filipino crew, including Third Officer Lugen Ortilano on his first voyage as a licenced officer and second assistant engineer Edimar Aguilar, who joined the ship twenty three days before.
    Only four other crewmembers survived the next 14 hours: Electrician James Bactat, Chief Cook Dominador Marentes, Messman Reynaldo Tagle and Able Seaman Ramon Ronquillo.
    The three senior officers had created a climate of fear and intimation on the ship. Junior officers were prohibited from eating the the officer’s mess. They were prohibited from reading the Safety Quality and Environmental Protection Management documents, or from carrying the jobs specified in it. Senior officers did not train their subordinates in the technical and administrative skills they needed to operate the vessel safely.
    The vessel carried no immersion suits. Fire and lifeboat drills were rare. Safety training records and the minutes of safety committee meetings were little more than fiction.
    It was the second to last day of February, it was cold, with the air temperature at 4.4 Celsius, the sea a little more than a degree higher at 5.5 Celsius. There was a two metre sea running east and a 15 knot wind Northwest
    Third Officer Ortilano was officer of the watch from 0800 to 1200. A little before 10.00 hours, Captain Kavouras gave the order that would doom the ship. He told Ortilano to have the crew open the 22 empty tanks that had held MTBE and Ortilano followed that order.
    MTBE vapour is heavier than air, it would not simply rise into the air and disperse when the tanks were opened. It can flow along a surface until it finds a point of ignition. It has a flashpoint of -25.6 degrees Celsius, well below the air temperature. The tanks were full of its vapour. As tank cleaning proceeded, those vapours were displaced, emerging onto the deck and collecting in pockets in corners and spaces.
    Vapours like MTBE need a certain amount of oxygen in order to ignite. If the amount of vapour is below a certain level, called the Lower Explosive Level or LEL, it won’t explode. If the amount of vapour is above a certain level, called the Upper Explosive Level, UEL, it also won’t explode. Between these two levels it will explode if there’s a source of ignition.
    When the tanks were opened, air entered the tanks, diluting the MTBE vapours to somewhere between the LEL and the UEL..
    Put simply, when Third Officer Johnny Acuna replaced Ortilano at 11.50 with instruction from Chief Officer Melles for Ortilano to help with tank cleaning at 13.00, the ship was already a floating bomb. There was a strong smell of MTBE vapour on deck All it needed was a spark.
    The tanks were not gas-freed, so Boatswain Aquilino Tabilin put on SCBA gear equipped with steel bottles and took an air-operated Wilden Pump into the tanks to remove residual MTBE from the cargo tanks with the help of an Ordinary Seaman and a Deck Cadet. By the time Ortilano arrived, the number nine centre starboard and wing tanks had already been emptied of remaining MTBE and Tabilin was working in the number eight starboard cargo tank.
    Boatswain Tabilin’s entry into a cargo tank filled with explosive vapours wearing SCBA followed no known safe procedures to put it mildly.
    At 13.30 the Wilden pump failed. Tabilin had it hauled out of the tank. While he was trying to repair it, Captain told him to get the Norclean Eductor, a kind of industrial vacuum cleaner used for draining combustible fluids, from the midship deckhouse.
    When it arrived its drum was damaged so Kavouras told Ortilano to get two standard drums and have them adapted to replace the damaged one on the Eductor. The drums were strengthen, but there was no bonding between the drum itself and the lid, a precaution designed to prevent build-up of statical electricity.
    The first drum was finished at 15.00 and taken on deck. At 17.05, Ortilano and an Engine cadet carried the replacement drums to the deck. The crew had already gone to eat but the Eductor had been mounted on the first drum, and the suction hose lead through the Butterworth opening near the the number eight starboard cargo tank expansion trunk, but the unit was not in operation.
    Ortilano had lunch and at 17.30 went to his cabin to rest in readiness for his next watch.
    Meanwhile, Ramon Ronquillo and Pumpman Tomas Ventenilla were blowing down cargo lines with compressed air. They probably weren’t aware that this was a bad idea. Blowing down cargo lines can create a static electrical charge which can spark and ignite any explosive fumes still in the pipe. They should have used an inert gas.
    At 1800 the crew reported for overtime and went to work. It was twilight and the deck lights were switched on.
    Ortilano, Bactat and Ronquillo were in their rooms, sleeping or resting. Chief Cook Marentes, Messman Reynaldo Tagle and messman Rosello were cleaning the galley. Second Assistant Engineer Aguilar was doing his rounds.
    As Aguilar placed his hand on the handle of the engine room door, he heard the first explosion. By the time he reached the interior stairwell on his way to his room, the ship was already listing to starboard. He couldn’t open the door to his room. He went up to the bridge and got a lifejacket from the Pilot room.
    In his cabin on the port side, Electrician Bactat heard a noise, the ship moved violently and began to list to starboard. Opening the window blinds he saw orange flame. He grabbed his coveralls and lifejacket struggling against the list, he made his way up to the bridge, where some of the windows were broken. He met with four others and made his way down exteriors ladders to the deck, the list making it hard to climb down.
    In the galley, Chief Cook Marentes heard a boom and the ship shook violently. Messman Rosello started to panic. Marentes told him to calm down and get a life jacket, then came another, ear-shattering explosion. He went to his own cabin to get his lifejacket. His lifeboat station was on the port side but because of the list he went down an exterior ladder to the winch deck.
    In his cabin, Ortilano head a sudden series of explosions, then a loud boom. Through his forward windows he saw flames. Dashing out into the passageway he saw AB Elmer Manahan who told him to get his lifejacket. Ortilano went back into his cabin, got the lifejacket, and exited the accommodations aft.
    In a group were Captain Kavoras and Chief Engineer Anasthasiou, talking in Greek, together with four other crew members, including Messman Tagle who couldn’t understand what they saying. They were waiting for instructions, but none were given.
    There was no question of using the lifeboats. Because of the list, the port lifeboat almost certainly could not be launched. The starboard lifeboat seems to have been caught by the explosion and fire. Its bow was damaged by the flames and more damage occurred as it fell from its falls in the blast.
    Ortilano asked Captain Kavouras whether a distress signal had been sent. Kavouras did not reply. Ortilano went to the bridge, activated the DSC alarm and sent out a mayday.
    He didn’t wait for a response. He went up to the bridge top, activated the EPIRB and cast it overboard.
    Meanwhile, Tagle followed Captain Kavaoras, Chief Engineer Anasthasiou and the rest of the group to the winch deck on the starboard side. For a moment he covered his eyes. When he look up, the rest had gone over the side. There was a third explosion and someone called to him in Tagalog to jump. Tagle jumped into the water.
    As the ship listed an estimated 30 degrees, Electrician Bactat, with a second group, made his way to the starboard winch deck and simply walked into the water. He found a piece of wood and clung to it.
    The ship came back on an even keel, her bow sinking rapidly. Aguilar, Marentes and Ronquillo got to the stern railings and held on, determined not to enter the water until the last possible moment. It wasn’t something they’d be trained to do: They’d remembered the movie Titanic.
    Ortilano climbed from the bridge top down to the winch deck. Their were people in the water, the lights of their lifejacket lights shining in the darkness. A life raft floated off starboard, still attached by its painter. Ortilano told the men at the stern railings to wait until the ship sank further. He waited himself, then, from a height of three or four metres jumped into the liferaft.
    Aguilar jumped for the lifeboat, missed, fell into the water and climbed into the liferaft. Then Ronquillo jumped and climbed in, followed by Marentes.
    They found the life raft equipment, cut the painter, and searched for survivors. Ortilano lit flares, hearing cried for help each time. He called out to them to swim towards the flates. Two men, so covere in oil as to be unrecognisable, got close enough to be helped into the life raft, messman Tagle and Electrician Bactat.
    At 1937, the Bow Mariner sunk under the waves, her deck lights still shining until almost the last moment.....


    BOW MARINER.jpgBOW MARINER-sidescan 2.jpgWreckage-Sidescan

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    Default Re: Disasters at sea

    All the remarks in Gulliver's post above regarding the Greek senior officers towards their Philippine junior officers I can totally agree with having spent 2 years as port captain with Ceres shipping sailing on Greek registered chemical tankers and experiencing exactly the same attitude, tearing my hair out trying to get them to change their attitude and even submitting damming reports to Ceres management, all to no avail.
    Rgds
    J.A.

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    Post Re: Disasters at sea STOLT TANKERS

    Most of the following will probably be known to Capt JA but it includes other snippets of interest from Gulliver's collected Lloyds or other casualty lists relating to Bow Mariner and other Stolt Tankers.



    BOW MARINER had several sister class builds some of which became Stolt tankers,all built at Brodosplit,Croatia,former Yugoslavia between 1981 and 1984.

    Her immediate sister was the ATLAS EXPORTER which became the STOLT EXPLORER ,then the STOLT PROTECTOR.
    Then there was IVER SWIFT which became STOLT USKOK then STOLT GUARDIAN.

    Another earlier tragedy was the IVER SPLIT which was briefly renamed STOLT GUSAR,then the MAASGUSAR
    As the Maasgusar: ----


    14/3/1989: She exploded(thought to be in ER) and caught fire SE of Japan.(approx.60nm off Nojimizaki,S.of Tokyo.

    23 Lost (19 Filipino and 4 British.) Carrying methanol and other chemicals from Houston to Yokohama
    explosion 34.35N/140.55E 14.3.89 & drifted in two parts,sinking 33.47N/144.24E 19.3.89

    Other notes relating to this casualty:
    '‘Jimmy Rickard (Presumably a crew member)and the Crew of the Maasgusar ‘' @ Howth (nr.Dublin)Parish Church-23rd anniversary mass was held (in 2012.?)

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