Sinking Of Vessel Research Articles

Reassessment of the M.V. Derbyshire Sinking With the Focus on Hull-Girder Collapse

During the last two decades, extensive investigations into the possible causes of the loss of the Capesize bulk carrier M.V. Derbyshire have been made. A total of 13 risk components were considered within the framework of a formal safety assessment. The prime concern was with abnormal wave effects on hatch cover failure and subsequent flooding into forward cargo holds. No serious speculation on hull-girder collapse was raised in the previous investigations. The present paper studies this possible cause, which involves the vessel's sinking due to structural progressive collapse from extreme wave bending actions. The safety measure of the vessel is defined as a ratio of the ultimate hull-girder strength to the applied extreme vertical bending moment. The computed safety measure is found to be quite marginal while the vessel was trapped in typhoon Orchid, indicating that the M.V. Derbyshire could have sunk by hull-girder collapse with or even without hatch cover failure and subsequent water ingress into the forward cargo holds. The results and insights developed from the present study are summarized. Important recommendations for improved ship safety are made.

Radioactivity near the sunken submarine "Kursk" in the Southern Barents Sea.

Radioactivity measurements were conducted on seawater, sediment, and biota samples collected in the vicinity of the Russian submarine "Kursk" in September, 2000, within 1 month of the vessel's sinking in the Barents Sea to determine whether leakage of radioactivity from the vessel's two nuclear reactors had occurred and to assess the impact on one of the most productive fishing areas in the world. Levels of radioactivity in surface sediments and biota are within the range of values previously measured in the Barents Sea and can be ascribed to inputs from global fallout, European nuclear fuel reprocessing facilities, and the Chernobyl accident. However, levels of 1291 in seawater in the Southern Barents Sea increased by 500% between 1992 and 2000, and the 129I/137Cs ratio increased by more than an order of magnitude during this time, owing to long-range transport of releases from reprocessing facilities at Sellafield (U.K.) and La Hague (France). Although these results indicate that, at the time of sampling, leakage from the Kursk had a negligible impact on the environment, they also show that regional background levels of artificial radioactivity are varying rapidly on annual timescales and that Europe's nuclear reprocessing facilities are the leading contributor of anthropogenic radioactivity to the region.

A Vessel is its Own Best Lifeboat: Prevention of Casualties through Education

The U.S. Coast Guard has observed the death rate for commercial fishermen decline steadily during the years following the enactment of the Fishing Vessel Safety Act of 1988. This Act called for requirements of survival equipment and fire fighting equipment, among other items, targeted at minimizing the consequences of a vessel capsize, sinking, fire or other casualty that required the crew to abandon ship. In recent years, the death rate has plateaued with minimal to no decreases and even a slight increase in 1996. While of concern, this plateau seems logical because the primary focus over the last eight to ten years has been on reducing the consequences of commercial fishing casualties (response). However, fishing vessels continue to capsize or sink before crew members are able to access survival equipment and lives are being lost. In order to continue to decrease the industry death rate, regulators and those responsible for oversight of this industry must shift the focus from reducing the consequence of casualties (response) to decreasing the likelihood of casualties occurring (prevention). This paper details the most recent initiative the U.S. Coast Guard has undertaken in its Fishing Vessel Safety Program and describes the Fishing Vessel Training Suite developed to facilitate this industry-wide education. The Training Suite consists of three trainers and a document titled, "Best Practices Guide to Vessel Stability." The three trainers include:Interactive Stability Trainer,Small Vessel Damage Stability Trainer, andSmall Vessel Damage Control Trainer. The U.S. Coast Guard has received very positive feedback from the commercial fishing industry and lives have been saved as a result of the use of this Training Suite.

Sub‐Bailments and Consent

Of the two major strands existing in the increasingly important topic of subbailment on terms, one has become well settled, the other has been shrouded in ambiguity for close to two decades. The recent Hong Kong Privy Council decision of The Pioneer Container' reaffirms the first strand and, more importantly, delivers a definitive pronouncement on the second. Briefly stated, the facts of The Pioneer Container were as follows. The plaintiffs shipped goods on board the defendants' vessel, which goods were lost when the vessel sank after a collision. The plaintiffs commenced the present action, issuing a writ in rem against the defendants' sister ship, claiming damages for loss of the said goods. The defendants applied for a stay of proceedings on two grounds: first, that by virtue of an exclusive jurisdiction clause in the relevant bills of lading, the plaintiffs had agreed that any dispute would be governed by Chinese law and determined at Taipei in Taiwan; secondly, that taking the circumstances as a whole, Taipei was the natural and appropriate forum for the trial of the action. The Board held in favour of the defendants, holding that the exclusive jurisdiction clause was binding on the plaintiffs and that, on the facts, a stay of proceedings ought to be granted. The present comment, focusing as it does on the bailment context, will only consider the Board's reasoning on the first issue. Problems arose with regard to the first issue (viz, that centring on the effect of the exclusive jurisdiction clause) because two groups of plaintiffs did not in fact have a direct contractual relationship with the defendant shipowners; each group had initially shipped the goods concerned on board vessels owned by different companies which then (in effect) subcontracted the carriage of the goods to the defendants. This raised the question as to whether the clause could in fact bind these plaintiffs in the absence of a contractual nexus. It should be noted at this juncture that although the instant case concerned the issue as to whether or not the burden of an exclusive jurisdiction clause could be placed on a third party (here, the plaintiffs), the reasoning of the Board would undoubtedly apply equally to the effect of exception clauses in similar circumstances.2 Another (more specific) point should also be noted: in so far as each group of plaintiffs was concerned, the bills of lading issued by the initial carriers each contained a similar clause as follows: 'The Carrier shall be entitled to sub-contract on any terms the whole or any part of [the carriage].'3

Spread of oil from theTenyo Maru, off the Southwest coast of Vancouver Island

We provide background oceanography and observations and hindcast simulations of spreading oil leaked from the wreck of theTenyo Maru, a fishing vessel that sank off the western entrance to Juan de Fuca Strait in July 1991. The vessel sank in the region of the Tully Eddy on the continental shelf. Although this eddy is normally present in summer, its location shifts and its ‘trapping time’ varies considerably. The spread of theTenyo Maru oil is represented reasonably well by assuming the eddy to be a littler further to the east and north of its position as observed during drifter studies in 1986. Observations in 1985 showed that the preferred exit route of surface water from the eddy was toward the southeast, the direction followed by theTenyo Maru oil in 1991; however, other drift paths are possible, and under different weather conditions the oil could have drifted toward the Vancouver Island coast.

A Suction Pump from an Early-16th-Century Shipwreck

The Cover Design A SUCTION PUMP FROM AN EARLY-16TH-CENTURY SHIPWRECK T H O M A S J. OERTLING In his Technology and Culture article on the origin of the suction pump, Sheldon Shapiro states that the earliest representation of a suction pump is a drawing made by the Italian engineer Mariano Jacopo Taccola in 1433. More detailed illustrations of this type of pump date from 1475—80, but he indicates that its first practical use was in the German mining industry some time before 1527.1 Shapiro discusses the use of suction pumps in mines and to raise water on land but does not address alternate uses or avenues for their dissemination. It was for pumping ships’ bilges that the suction pump found an ideal use that carried it throughout the world, and we now have an example dating to before 1527. The ship was the primary long-distance carrier throughout the Mediterranean and to Northern Europe, India, and the Americas. A pump that was compact, efficient, easy to use, and easy to repair was notjust another piece of shipboard equipment, it was the most important of all. More than sails, anchors, or rudder, the bilge pump was essential for the safety of the vessel and the cargo, crew, and passengers it carried: Our governor . . . had caused the whole company, about 140, besides women, to be equally divided into three parts and, opening the ship in three places . . . appointed each man where to attend; and thereunto every man came duly upon his watch, took the bucket or pump for one hour, and rested another. Then men might be seen to labor, I may well say, for life; and the better sort, even our governor and admiral themselves, not refusing Mr. Oertljng was a research associate with the Institute of Nautical Archaeology, College Station, Texas. He wrote his Master's thesis in the Department ofAnthropology at Texas A&M University on shipboard pumps between 1500 and 1840. ‘Sheldon Shapiro, “The Origin of the Suction Pump,” Technology and Culture 5 (Fall 1964): 571—72.©1989 by the Society for the History of Technology. All rights reserved. 0040-165X/89/3003-0001$01.00 584 A Suction Pumpfrom an Early-16th-Century Shipwreck 585 their turn and to spell each the other to give example to otherfs]. The common sort . . . kept their eye waking and their thoughts and hands working with tired bodies and wasted spirits three days and four nights, destitute of outward comfort and desperate of any deliverance, testifying how mutually willing they were yet by labor to keep each other from drowning, albeit each one drowned whilst he labored.2 In the summer of 1982, marine archaeologists began excavation of an early-16th-century shipwreck on Molasses Reef in the Turks and Caicos Islands, British West Indies. Through the analysis of Spanish ceramics and the wrought-iron ordnance, the shipwreck is dated to between 1492 and 1525. But, with the additional evidence of native Lucayan (Bahamian) Arawak Indian ceramics, it has been determined that the vessel sank probably no later than 1513.3 In addition to a nearly complete battery of wrought-iron, breech-loading ordnance, tools, hundreds of iron fasteners, and a small portion of the wooden hull,4 the archaeologists also recovered a lead disk which has been identified as the upper valve of a suction pump. The disk (fig. 1) is 12.5 cm in diameter and 1.0—1.5 cm thick, but has an overall height of 4.8 cm owing to a collar surrounding the central hole (4.0 cm average diameter). Its weight is ca. 1.5 kg. Seven smaller, unevenly spaced holes (2.0—2.7 cm diameter) surround the central hole, and two smaller holes pierce the collar on opposite sides. Treasure hunters who visited the site before the archaeologists and removed a number of the large artifacts found an identical lead disk, interpreting it to be the wheel hub for a cannon carriage.5 Even though lead is an unlikely material for this purpose, the treasure hunters provided a conjectural illustration of how the disk had been ■'William Strachey, “A True Reportory of the Wreck and Redemption of Sir Thomas...

Bomb Scandal Highlights French Testing

Bomb Scandal Highlights French Testing

War and Our Merchant Marine

Upon the outbreak of war in September 1939 operations of merchant vessels sailing under the flag of the United States were restricted under the terms of the joint congressional resolution of May 1, 1937. This resolution specifically forbade American vessels to carry arms, ammunition, or implements of war to any belligerent state; and proscribed the carrying of any other (to be later designated) article, if necessary to preserve the peace of the United States. Arming of American vessels was prohibited. With the war in Europe scarcely under way, the joint congressional resolution of November 4, 1939 tightened these restrictions. American vessels were granted freedom to sail only in designated safe zones; and were forbidden to operate in combat zones, as defined by the President.' By this means, Congress evidently sought to maintain the peace of the United States, because the sinking of national vessels is ever a fruitful source of war senti-

BRITISH LIBRARIES SUFFER LOSSES

To the Editor:— A new Aid to Britain has been established by the Medical Library Association. Letters were sent a few months ago to the medical libraries of England and Scotland asking how much damage had been suffered to their books. The Medical Library Association has offered to restore these losses as far as possible from duplicate books and journals in the American medical libraries. The British librarians are responding enthusiastically, saying that such an understanding of their difficulties and the desire to cooperate in rehabilitating libraries that have suffered damage through enemy action make the burden easier to bear. Most of the libraries succeeded in moving their books to safer areas before the bombing reached their buildings. However, they have suffered considerable loss of recent journals through sinking of vessels enroute to England. Shipments of November issues of American journals seem to have been particularly unfortunate. The medical library