Loss of F/V Patriot apparently due to loss of stability

Captains

Two Gloucester MA fishermen died last year when the F/V Patriot suddenly sank about 14 miles southeast of their homeport. After an extensive USCG marine casualty investigation, involving underwater surveys, analysis of novel acoustic information, and detailed hydrostatic calculations, it appears loss of stability is once again the culprit. This was a tragic loss for the families and professional fishermen of Gloucester.

RADM W

Stability problem on boat caused fatal sinking, Coast Guard says

By Travis Andersen

Globe Staff / September 18, 2010

The US Coast Guard has determined that the sinking of the Patriot, a 54-foot fishing vessel whose two crewmen died when it went down off the coast of Gloucester in January 2009, was caused by a sudden loss of stability that capsized the boat.

The vessel sank so quickly that the two men on board, Matteo Russo, 36, and his father-in-law, John Orlando, 58, could not retrieve any lifesaving devices, Coast Guard Captain John Healey said last night during a news conference.

He said the Coast Guard would not speculate on what exactly caused the Patriot to lose stability but noted that the men were short one crew member when the boat sank about 14 miles southeast of Gloucester, which may have caused additional problems when the trouble started.

Healey added that the Coast Guard had ruled out a possible fire on board the vessel as well as a collision. The hull was not charred or damaged in any way that would suggest either occurrence, Healey said.

He said recommendations following the report on the cause of the sinking include requiring stability tests for fishing vessels under 79 feet long and ensuring that beacon devices that sound when ships are sinking are properly installed.

The beacon device on the Patriot did not go off during the sinking, Healey said, adding that the boat was “very well maintained’’ and the men were “professional fishermen’’ who knew how to protect themselves.

Healey said underwater acoustic equipment in the area captured a series of “loud bangs’’ coming from the Patriot shortly before the sinking, which could indicate stability problems due to flooding.

Bulk ship-Fish boat 'hit and run'

Captains

This is a sad story about a bulk carrier involved in a 'hit and run' accident in the English Channel. According to the UK MAIB report released this week, both the carrier's master and the officer of the watch were aware of the collision, but failed to stop, failed to make any attempt to confirm if the fishing vessel they hit and her crew was safe, and failed to report the incident.

RADM W

16 September 2010 Last updated at 12:37 ET

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Ship's master criticised for Teignmouth fishing death

The "lookout" system on the crabber Etoile des Ondes was also criticised in the MAIB report

The master of a bulk carrier involved in a collision in which a Devon fisherman drowned has been criticised.

Chris Wadsworth, 21, died when the Weymouth-registered Etoile des Ondes was hit by the Alam Pintar in 2009.

A Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) report said the carrier's master failed to report the collision and records were falsified or destroyed.

The crabber, which sailed out of Teignmouth, was fishing in the English Channel when it was hit.

'Inexperienced officer'

Three crew members of the Weymouth-registered crabber were rescued, but Mr Wadsworth's body was never found.

The MAIB report said when the collision happened on 20 December 2009 about 15 miles north of the Cherbourg peninsula, the bridge of the Singapore-registered Alam Pintar was manned by an inexperienced officer and an unqualified deck cadet.

Shipping trends continue upward

Captains,

More news indicating maritime trade increases caught my eye this week.

RADM W

LA-Long Beach August Imports Surge 23.9 Percent

Bill Mongelluzzo | Sep 15, 2010 12:35PM GMT

The Journal of Commerce Online - News Story

Southern California ports show peak still cresting with advance from July

Combined imports into the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach grew 23.9 percent in August over the same month a year ago, and the ports defied analyst forecasts of a slowdown by reporting their strongest volume of the year, according to port figures released this week.

APL Volume, Revenue Climb in August

Peter T. Leach | Sep 13, 2010 1:07PM GMT

The Journal of Commerce Online - News Story

Year-to-year improvement came even as volume slid slightly from previous month

Container volume at APL grew 13 percent in the four-week period ending Aug. 20 over the same period a year ago and the average revenue jumped 45 percent, but the carrier's latest report showed signs the container industry resurgence has peaked, with volume slipping from the month before.

Hong Kong Volume Grows 9.7 Percent in July

Joseph Bonney | Sep 7, 2010 7:31PM GMT

The Journal of Commerce Online - News Story

Slower growth comes after six months of double digit jumps

Container volume through Hong Kong rose 9.7 percent in July after growing by double digits in each of the year’s first six months, the Hong Kong Port Development Council reported.

Despite the slower growth rate, July’s estimated 2.056 million 20-foot equivalent units still represented Hong Kong’s busiest month this year. July was the fourth consecutive month with volume higher than in the previous month.

MV Magellan Star piracy interdiction

Captains,

U.S. Marines captured 9 pirates and rescued 11 crew of the M/V Magellan Star near Yemen last week - the first such rescue since Captain Phillips was rescued from his lifeboat during the M/V Maersk Alabama pirate attack over a year ago. No shots were fired this time. A Coast Guard law enforcement detachment assisted two Maritime Raid Force teams operating from the USS Dubuque and USS Princeton which were patrolling in the Gulf of Aden with the multi-national Combined Task Force 151.

The pirates were armed and resistant, but the M/V Magellan Star crew was well protected in a "safe room" - a key fact for the the U.S. Marines' chain of command. Prosecutorial evidence collected by the Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment and Naval Criminal Investigation Service will be used to bring the pirates to justice as soon as jurisdiction is established in an appropriate court.

RADM W

Marines seize ship from pirates

Marines in inflatable boats approach the Magellan Star to take the container ship back from Somali pirates who had commandeered it.(U.s. Navy)

By Craig Whitlock

Friday, September 10, 2010

U.S. Marines rescued a hijacked German-owned cargo ship off the coast of Yemen on Thursday, boarding the vessel as dawn broke and apprehending nine pirates without firing a shot.

Two dozen Marine commandos took control of the Magellan Star, a container ship en route from Spain to Vietnam, by swarming the decks and surrounding the armed pirates before they had time to react, U.S. military officials said. The pirates, all Somali nationals, will remain in custody of the U.S. Navy until officials can decide whether they should be prosecuted or released.

Grounding in the Arctic

Captains,

The Northwest Passage has been particularly challenging recently. The M/V Clipper Adventurer, a cruise ship with 128 passengers, ran aground in the same passage on August 27, 2010.

RADM W

Northwest Passage tanker could be stuck for days

Range of Arctic charting may be to blame: shipping official

Last Updated: Friday, September 3, 2010 | 10:37 PM CST

CBC News

The MV Nanny, seen Wednesday, is aground on an an uncharted sandbar in Simpson Strait, about 50 kilometres southwest of Gjoa Haven, Nunavut, in the Northwest Passage. (Canadian Coast Guard)

It could take days, even a week, before a fuel tanker carrying 9.5 million litres of diesel gets dislodged from a sandbar in the Northwest Passage.

The Merchant Vessel Nanny slammed into the uncharted sandbar Wednesday in Simpson Strait, about 50 kilometres southwest of Gjoa Haven in western Nunavut.

The tanker, owned by Newfoundland-based Woodward's Oil Ltd., was delivering annual diesel shipments to remote Arctic communities. It was en route to Taloyoak, another Nunavut community, when it became stuck in the strait.

The tanker's crew is safe and no fuel has spilled from the intact double-hulled ship to date. Still, the Canadian Coast Guard ship Henry Larsen has anchored itself within kilometres of the MV Nanny, watching for any potential leaks.

USCG mission balancing

Captains

The following article from Defense News describes the broad brush breakdown of USCG activities in 2009. I have no doubt the numbers will change in 2010 - a year characterized by the Haiti humanitarian response and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

RADM W

Security Roles Top Missions for U.S. Coast Guard

By CHRISTOPHER P. CAVAS Published: 3 Sep 2010 11:49

The gap between homeland security and more traditional missions performed by the u.s. Coast Guard increased from 10 percent to 12 percent in 2009 over the previous year, but the service projects that gap will narrow in 2010.

The annual mission performance review by Department of Homeland Security's Inspector General (IG) office showed that the Coast Guard devoted 56 percent of its resource hours - the number of hours aircraft and vessels are in use - to homeland security missions. By far the greatest percentage was taken by ports, waterways and coastal security missions - 25 percent of all Coast Guard resource hours.

Non-homeland security missions garnered 44 percent of resource hours. Those tasks include aids-to-navigation (14 percent), living marine resources (13 percent), search and rescue (8 percent), and marine safety (7 percent) missions.Other homeland security missions include illegal drug interdiction (11 percent), undocumented migrant interdiction (11 percent) and defense readiness (8 percent).

Homeland security missions took their highest share of resource hours in 2003 and 2004, when the service devoted 62 percent and 63 percent, respectively, to those roles.

Good Samaritan rescues 13 in Gulf Of Mexico

Captains,

13 oil platform workers were saved thanks to Captain Shaw and the crew of the OSV Crystal Clear.

RADM W

Panic Kept at Bay in Smooth Rescue Mission

By ROBBIE BROWN

Published: September 2, 2010

In his 20 years as a boat captain, Dan Shaw had never tried to rescue an entire crew out of the water. But on Thursday, he received a radio alert that 13 workers from an oil platform that caught fire in the Gulf of Mexico were bobbing in choppy, fast-flowing waters not far from the flames.

Enlarge This Image

Patrick Semansky/Associated Press

Two workers, left, who were rescued from an oil production platform that exploded walked away from a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter on the roof of Terrebonne General Medical Center in Houma, La., on Thursday.

His boat was 25 miles away, one of the nearest to the scene of the emergency, and he volunteered to find the floating workers.

“We wanted to get to them as fast as we could and make sure we didn’t lose anybody,” said Captain Shaw, 59, one of four workers aboard a 100-foot service vessel, the Crystal Clear.

By the time he arrived around 11 a.m., he said, the men had been floating for two hours and had been swept a mile from the still-flaming platform.