Don’t know the details here but this doesn’t seem right.
This seems like a timely addition:
“This action seeks financial security from the insurers in the order of $22 million. This provides a commitment that they will remediate all impacts of this incident. That $22 million covers estimated costs including that of a clean-up.
That seems excessive.
The Taxation department and several other Australian Government Deptments have their genesis in Ned Kelly, a noted highway man. APL England was running out of LA when I last saw her and I see she is now 19 years old. It is almost impossible to access most of the deck for maintenance at sea and I’m not sure what steps owners are taking with the ships now coming into service. How does a mate on deck check cargo lashings with a ship loading under 7 gantries that I witnessed.
Hogsnort, I thought ILA did the lashings but perhaps the mates had to confirm it. A friend and fellow classmate (High school,not college) of my son runs one of those crews. He is/was rather meticulate in his instructions. He wrestled alongside my son, went to VMI. Sorry Domer, mentioned my kid and his henchmen again. These megaships do get into weather, and it is not a surprise some containers get lost. My question is, once the containers are placed on the ship, who has final say"It looks good to me"?
My knowledge of the container operations in LA is not recent. You are correct that the lashings are done by a shore gang.
The mate having received the cargo loading plan on a disc fed the information into the stability programme onboard. The programme caculated the tier weights etc and produced the lashing plan which was printed out and given to the stevedore. At the end of cargo operations the stevedore presented a document for the mate to sign acknowledging that the lashing had been carried out per plan.
My vessel had a plan where the second and third mate signed off each Bay as they were loaded; this was manageable when we had up to Bay 47, which would be about the number of bays on the APL England. The mega container ships, I’m not convinced.
Many is the time when the last boxes are coming on, two tugs are fast,
One mate is on the bridge testing the gear, the agent was with me in my office, the pilot is on the way up to the bridge with a cadet.
One mate is out on deck checking that the two reefers with problems have been signed off by the terminal technician and the last lashings are been rigged and the mate is in the cargo office with the stevedore signing papers, securing the healing system and recording the drafts etc etc. Now run through all that again with a ship 400 metres long.
The situation as I have described was typical in Asian ports and in Singapore and China is was not uncommon for another ship waiting for the berth being held off by a couple of tugs. As soon as the oil patch picked up I moved back.
4 Likes
I knew the turnarounds were quick, but WOW.
I remember a bunch of deckhands scrambling to get to a store before we headed to a colder climate. With an 8 hour port stay, it had to be planned like a military operation. Luckily, there was a Wal-Mart within taxi travel distance and there were enough participants to share cab fares. Container terminals and shopping malls are rarely close to each other.
1 Like
You learn something every day, even as retired. I will share your reply with my kid on our next golf excursion. He was getting around two container ships a day before the pandemic crap. I was an oil guy, he is containers. We mostly talked about how shitty the others golf swing was. Thanks for your response.
The vessel signs off that the cargo was loaded undamaged and lashed both securely and in the proper configuration.
1 Like
Which is mostly BS because the CM relies on the paper he is given to sign.
Yes, but it’s still legally binding.
What paper and who from Lee_Shore and Phoenix? Another subject to discuss with the kid. I really don’t know much about container sign offs. I should ask more, but hate mixing business with pleasure. Now I am interested. I do know a flurry of activity takes place in the hour or two before sailing, as in both oil and containers. Cargo manifest paper?
Meh, it’s about time the mates did some work. I mean, they spend most of their day listening to music and books on tape while drinking coffee in flipflops looking out the window, right? Poor things have to do a bit of work in port…
1 Like
Johnny, my kid worked for Maersk and MSC as a 3rd before he went shoreside, and was very busy before, during ,and after sailing. I understand some 3rds seem to be not connected to the “Program”, Reefer boxes required much more attention during the transit… My question was who issues the documents for the mates or captain to sign off and who is responsible at the end of the day when the cargo ends up in the sea. I am sure the lawyers will debate that. Another question I will ask him next time we golf together.
The stevedores (not in all ports mind you) request that a form be signed stating that the Chief Officer is satisfied with the lashings. Like most things signed between two competing entities, this is typically notated “for receipt only”. Ultimately, the proper stowage, lashings, and seaworthiness of the ship are the responsibility of the Master who delegates the vetting and inspection of this to the Chief Officer.
Like all things in this industry, when some accident like this happens, everyone is pointing a finger in another direction and trying to redirect the liability and eventual damages paid. Getting signatures on a piece of paper can help, but ultimately, everyone pays a bit. Either with their jobs being lost, cold hard cash being paid, or in this case - the Captain’s freedom.
Very troubling times we are living in.
Ok Yankee, kinda what I was looking for. I as well as you know the attorneys will split hairs as much as possible, thats their job, right or wrong. And yes I agree, it is troubling times. The losses can be incredible nowadays, and who gets the shoe up the butt is anybodys guess. Loss no matter what is not blamed on one party exclusively, but the better attorney can limit the damages to the obvious guilty party. I can’t send enough aspirins to the master of the APL England. Again, glad I am retired.
Have done it before…
“AMSA is also set for a Federal Court battle with the insurer of Taiwanese shipping company Yang Ming, owner of the YM Efficiency, after it failed to make payments for the recovery operation”
large fines alters slack work practices.
From the article - not just the lashings but also the securing points badly corroded.
The APL England itself was detained at the Port of Brisbane on Wednesday night. Schwartz said previously that the authority’s inspection of the ship had already revealed that lashing arrangements for cargo were inadequate and securing points for containers on the deck of the ship were heavily corroded.
And the rain continues to pour on that ship. Don’t envy the crew at all.