Intercargo says liquefaction major concern

(Posted on 29/04/19)

INTERCARGO’s Bulk Carrier Casualty Report 2018 provides an analysis of reported bulk carrier losses during the

period from 2009 to 2018, when 188 lives were lost and 48 bulk carriers over 10,000 dwt were identified as total losses.

Although there has been no reported loss of a bulk carrier in 2018 and the ten-year trends in annual average

numbers of lives and dry cargo ships lost show positive signs of safety improvement, there is no room for

The International Association of Dry Cargo Shipowners (INTERCARGO) has represents the interests of dry cargo

shipowners. . It provides the forum where dry bulk shipowners, managers and operators

are informed about, discuss and share concerns on key topics and regulatory challenges, especially in relation to safety, the environment and

operational excellence.

Cargo failure and liquefaction continue to be a major concern for dry bulk shipping. 9 casualties with loss of 101

seafarers’ lives between 2009 and 2018 were believed to be from cargo related failures - 6 bulk carriers carrying

nickel ore from Indonesia, 2 with laterite (clay) iron ore from India and 1 with bauxite from Malaysia.

Lessons learnt from past incidents play an important role in determining the scope of additional safety

improvements. 23 investigation reports on these 48 losses were still not submitted to IMO by their flag States, as per

information on IMO GISIS database at end January 2019. Examples of pending investigation reports for submission include:

The highest loss of life has been attributed to cargo failure (liquefaction), totalling 101 lives lost from the 9
casualties. Two (2) investigation reports of those 9 cases have not been submitted to IMO.
The most common reported cause of ship losses has been grounding, totalling 19 losses among the 48 cases.
Six (6) investigation reports of those 19 cases have not been submitted to IMO.
Six (6) ships lost with unknown causes claimed 61 lives. Five (5) investigation reports of those 6 cases have
not been submitted to IMO.
Reported flooding led to losses of 6 ships. No investigation report of those 6 cases has been submitted to
IMO.

The recent publication of the Stellar Daisy Casualty Investigation Report by the Marshall Islands Maritime

Administrator (on 19 April 2019) was much expected by the industry and INTERCARGO had repeatedly urged for its

timely submission to IMO, as over 2 years have passed since the tragic sinking of M.V. STELLAR DAISY in the South

Atlantic on 31 March 2017 with the loss of 22 lives.

INTERCARGO welcomes the publication of the above report, reiterating the importance of flag States’ timely

submission of casualty investigation reports to IMO, as a means for identifying the cause of incidents and enabling

preventive actions to be taken. INTERCARGO will carefully study the report to contribute to this direction and urges

all relevant administrations, that have not done so, to investigate incidents and publish the reports in a timely

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