moments away
WHEN things go wrong at sea, a rapid and accurate assessment of risks and potential outcomes can be crucial in averting a catastrophic outcome for the ship, its crew and the maritime environment.
While the ship’s master and crew are usually best placed to assess the situation, shore-based authorities can also play a crucial role in bringing their expertise and resources to assist in critical situations, or to rapidly provide extra resources that may be required.
Such a scenario arose off the Central Queensland coast just before midday on 24 January 2023 when Maritime Safety Queensland’s vessel traffic services responded to a distress call from a vessel at the outer anchorage offshore from Hay Point, Queensland.
The vessel was the 292-metre cape-size bulk carrier Frontier Unity.
With a crew of 24, the vessel was carrying 1,178MT heavy fuel oil, 62.2MT low supplier fuel, 14,575MT ballast and 76,400L lube oil. She had also been part loaded with 57,000MT of coal at Abbot Point.
The vessel reported it was taking on water in the engine room and that the water ingress was potentially catastrophic.
A spokesperson from the QLD Department of Transport and Main Roads, told Daily Cargo News, “The official cause is still under investigation however, MSQ received reports that maintenance led to significant flooding of the engine room.
“At 11:24 hours, the vessel reported taking on water in her engine room at a rate of approximately 4500 cubic metres per hour.”
Initial response
After receiving the report and considering its potential implications, MSQ acted fast and stood up an incident management team under its regional harbour master (Mackay).
Given the potential for pollution, MSQ activated the marine emergency management team and resources from across the state to assist.
On day two, the vessel was reported as stable at 15:00 hours, with flooding slowed to 200mm of water ingress per hour due to the successful installation of temporary patches
Meanwhile, on the vessel, the situation became more dire. Flooding caused the lower deck pumps to become submerged and cease operation. This occurred at 12:58 hours, when the vessel’s auxiliary engines stopped, and the vessel completely blacked out.
Under MSQ’s co-ordination, four tugs were deployed and a marine pilot from North Queensland Bulk Ports was directed to board the vessel to report back and enable better communications with the MSQ incident controller.
“Effective communication with all parties is critical to achieving a positive result in circumstances such as these,” the spokesperson said.
“This is always challenging, but MSQ’s vessel traffic services stayed in constant and direct contact with the vessel throughout the incident, providing assistance when required.”
MSQ also directed the vessel Master to engage a salvor through the ship’s owner, and commercial divers were deployed to the scene.
“The fast response is owed to MSQ’s vessel traffic services officers who were operating under the guidance of the regional harbour master as incident controller.”
They were able to co-ordinate the flow of information to the relevant parties upon notification from the vessel.
“This enabled emergency towage from Hay Point and Mackay to be sent to the vessel immediately,” the spokesperson said.
“MSQ conveyed to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority the need for emergency pumps from the national stockpile to be sent to the vessel. AMSA then deployed its search and rescue aircraft Challenger from Cairns to drop two pumps near the vessel, which were retrieved by the tugs on standby.”
Divers also made temporary repairs to the outside of the vessel’s hull to slow the ingress of water, which eventually reached an equilibrium at nine metres of sea water in the engine room.
MSQ also took appropriate action to direct the Frontier Unity into shallow water (less than 10 metres) with a sandy bottom, so that the vessel could not sink.
MSQ additionally loaded 850 metres of oil spill containment boom onto vessels ready for deployment and activated MSQ and NQBP boat crews on standby in Mackay.
At 19:45 hours the vessel flooding was slowed due to a combination of flood control mitigations including temporary patches, and the ship reaching equilibrium while remaining at anchor.
The value of salvage
Captain Drew Shannon, executive committee member of the International Salvage Union and chief executive of United Salvage, provides an update on assessing the true value of salvage.
Annual statistics from the International Salvage Union – the association representing the interests of professional salvors around the world – show that income in 2023 recovered from its lows in 2022. The headline figure of gross income from all sources was US$398 million from which all of the salvors’ costs must be met.
Despite this recovery to more typical levels of income, it is a key priority of the ISU that the salvage industry remains adequately funded. We know that our key stakeholders – shipowners, property and liability insurers – recognise the importance of the industry because they say so publicly and all of us agree that the industry needs to be sustainable economically.
The ISU position is that awards made under Article 13 of the 1989 Salvage Convention must remain the cornerstone of the industry. Those awards flow from “no cure, no pay” contracts, such as the Lloyd’s Open Form under which the salvor is entitled to remuneration based on the value of the property (the ship and its cargo) that is saved. The salvor commits to the job at their own financial risk and there is no need to negotiate terms upfront. It enables a speedy intervention, and time is of the essence in emergency response. The awards include an element of “encouragement” to fund the investment in people, training and equipment that is needed to continue to provide professional services around the world.
At the same time, we recognise that our members are free to contract how they wish, and many services are provided, for example, under variants of BIMCO wreck contracts, towage contracts and on commercial terms. Whatever the terms, we ask that, when considering awards, owners and insurers celebrate the value preserved by our services and do not focus on the cost.
Operational matters
We have seen several dramatic cases of ro-ro and car carrier fires expertly handled by ISU members. When linked to the increased risk and danger from battery fires it shows how vital these kinds of interventions are and the importance of the availability of responders willing and able to provide the necessary services.
Future fuels for the propulsion of merchant ships are a dominant theme today and responding to a vessel in difficulty with ammonia, liquefied natural gas or hydrogen as its fuel, is going to present a great challenge to the salvor.
Environmental protection
In many situations, it is only the professional salvors that stand between a casualty and an environmental catastrophe. Typically, our members provide services each year to vessels carrying more than 1.5 million tonnes of potential pollutants, including bunkers.
With the increase in vessel size in recent years, services have been provided to dozens of ships carrying more than 2000 tonnes of fuel.
In an era where, rightly, one tonne of bunkers over the side is unacceptable this is a huge contribution to environmental protection, to say nothing of the huge costs and reputational damage that might otherwise be incurred.
I never find it difficult to make the case for the professional salvor. I think we can be very proud of our industry and the services it provides.
Damage control
MSQ, along with the salvor and other agencies, was able to attend to the vessel by helicopter the next day to have direct contact with the master. This enabled effective communication flow with all stakeholders.
On day two, the vessel was reported as stable at 15:00 hours, with flooding slowed to 200mm of water ingress per hour due to the successful installation of temporary patches. By the time this occurred, just over nine metres of water was in the engine room and the main engine was almost completely submerged. Auxiliary power was re-established and MSQ’s regional harbour master issued a direction for a 1.5NM exclusion zone around the vessel.
The situation remained a delicate one and during the next two weeks MSQ continued to monitor and support the vessel and its crew at anchor and to advise and direct the response where necessary. During this time a permanent patch was manufactured and installed.
While this was occurring, Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle formed in the Coral Sea and threatened to arrive in the area of operation. In response, MSQ assisted the ship and its salvors to develop a ‘ride out’ contingency plan as the vessel could not operate under its own power.
The spokesperson said, “The weather systems in the Coral Sea were monitored very closely in readiness for undertaking pro-active actions if necessary.
“Had a tropical cyclone hit the area, the task of keeping it stable would have become more difficult. This was one of the reasons why MSQ insisted that the salvage operator engage the services of an ocean-going tug to remove the vessel.”
The salvor appointed an ocean-going tug from Singapore and, in the interim, an additional tug was placed on site as standby to further support any required emergency relocation.
Fortunately, Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle moved east. The Frontier Unity waited for the arrival of an ocean-going salvage tug, which arrived on scene on the 17 February 2023.
Catastrophe averted
On 19 February, Frontier Unity began her passage to Singapore under tow, and subsequently cleared both the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea without further incident over the next week.
This incident demonstrated MSQ’s capacity to successfully manage emergency incidents and prevent what could have been an environmental catastrophe with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
“MSQ strives for a culture of ‘prevention is better than cure’,” the spokesperson said.
“In line with this, it has worked closely with AMSA and port authorities to reduce the risk of marine incidents.”
This includes a proactive management regime as a regulator, strong interaction with the shipping industry and vessels trading with Queensland ports, and by promoting an inclusive culture with all key stakeholders.
This incident demonstrated MSQ’s capacity to successfully manage emergency incidents
The only comparable incident MSQ has been involved in since the Frontier Unity incident was that of the Cesi Qingdao – a 290-metre LNG tanker that became disabled alongside in the port of Gladstone in November 2023.
After an AMSA ship inspection found a number of defects with the ship, including four of its five generators being unserviceable, it was detained alongside for urgent repairs.
“MSQ worked closely with AMSA and other stakeholders to have the ship removed ‘dead ship’ in a complex operation to the port’s outer anchorage on 1 December, where it underwent further repairs before being towed out of Australian waters.”
This article appeared in the October | November 2024 edition of DCN Magazine
