April 2, 2014 Ministry of Public Works and Transport Ship Inspection and Report
inspection report
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Ministry of Public Works and Transport
Directorate General of Land & Maritime Transport
Maritime Transport Administration
Maritime Navigation Department
Report concerning the ship “RHOSUS” docked at the Beirut Port Breakwater
Beirut, 2014
Page 2
Section 1 Introduction
Section 2 Ship Details
Section 3 Facts
Section 4 Investigation
Section 5 Analysis
Section 6 Recommendations
Section 7 Annexes
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Section 1
Introduction
On Thursday, April 2, 2014, the ship “Rhosus” docked at Beirut Port since November 21, 2013, was inspected in order to assess its status, and develop a plan upon which an appropriate decision could be made to guarantee the sustainability of the maritime traffic safety in Beirut Port and uphold the rights of the Lebanese State and the crew of the mentioned ship, in addition to the obligations of the ship owner and agent and all the relevant parties.
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Section 2
Ship Details
Name: Rhosus
Flag: Moldovia
Classification Body: Maritime Llyod – Georgia
IMO number: 8630344
Ship Type: General Cargo
Construction year: 1986
Gross Tonnage (GT): 1900 tons
Net Tonnage (NT): 964 tons
Deadweight tonnage (DwT): 3226,123 tons
Total Ship Length: 86,6 meters
Vessel draught upon entrance to the port: 4,9 meters
Depth: 6,5 meters
Engine Type and Load: HANSHIN / 6LU32GD POWER BHP 1300
Vessel Speed: 8 [nautical] miles
Coming from: Batumi, Georgia
Cargo Type: High Density Ammonium Nitrate
Owner Name: BRIARWOOD CORP
Ship Management [company] Name: INTERFLEET SHIP MANAGEMENT EOOD
Crew Nationalities: Russian and Ukrainian
Agent Name: Prokoshev Borys
Captain Name: National Trading & Shipping Agency
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Section 3
The Facts
The “RHOSUS”, a general cargo vessel, flying Moldova’s flag arrived in Beirut Port on Thursday, November 21, 2013 in the morning, carrying 2,750 bags of High Density Ammonium Nitrate, with a total weight of 2755,5 tones. The merchandise is considered hazardous according to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Regulation 5.1, and was loaded in Batumi Port, Georgia, according to the cargo documents and was meant to be unloaded at Beira Port, Mozambique.
After the ship left Batumi Port, the owner of the RHOSUS ordered the captain to head towards Beirut Port to ship 12 big trucks, 15 small trucks, a big container (40 feet), and two small containers (20 feet) to Aqaba Port in Jordan.
And since both cargo holds in the ship were full of the High Density Ammonium Nitrate cargo, the only place to load the merchandise at Beirut port was the hatch cover of the two cargo holds.
After placing the first truck on the hatch cover of Hold 1, the captain noticed that the truck weight had a heavy impact on the hatch cover which became dented, so he ordered the loading process to stop, because continuing to load all the merchandise that was to be loaded in Beirut would lead to the collapse of both Holds’ hatch covers, causing the ship and merchandise to incur heavy damage.
The Ship Inspection Service was notified about this incident and a team from the authority went to inspect the ship on Monday November 25, 2013, and it was seized because it did not comply with the Maritime Safety requirements as per the national and international applicable laws. The owner of the ship, in addition to the flag state, and the IMO were notified about this seizure.
In light of the absence of any action or reaction from the ship owner or flag to deal with the ship situation, crew and merchandise on board, the ship was moved to the breakwater at Beirut Port, and the crew was downsized to 4: a captain, head engineer, third engineer and first mate.
On Thursday April 2, 2014, the Ship Inspection Service went onboard again to assess the situation of the ship and collect information upon which an appropriate decision could be made to guarantee the sustainability of the maritime traffic in Beirut Port and uphold the rights of the Lebanese State and the crew of the mentioned ship, in addition to the obligations of the ship owner and agent and all the relevant parties.
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Section 4
Investigation
On Thursday April 2, 2014, the Ship Inspection Service went onboard of the ship and the captain was interrogated about the current situation of the ship, before the inspection [conducted by the Port State Control], and he stated the following:
“After the ship left Batumi Port in Georgia fully loaded (2,750 bags of High Density Ammonium Nitrate with a total weight of 2755,5 tons), some members of the crew were replaced, including me the captain, and the owner asked me to head towards Beirut Port to ship 12 big trucks, 15 small trucks, a big container (40 feet) and two small containers (20 feet), arguing that the Beirut shipment will cover the costs of crossing Suez Canal. The shipment was bound to Aqaba port in Jordan.
We arrived in Beirut on Thursday, November 21, 2013 and the loading of the mentioned merchandise on the hatch cover of the two cargo holds resumed since the two holds were full, but I ordered them to stop the process immediately after the hatch cover of cargo hold no:1 was damaged and dented when the first truck was loaded on it.
After that, the Ship Inspection Service went onboard and seized the ship. I notified the ship owner and agent who till now did not show any interest in either the ship nor its crew. The agent told us after a while to move the ship to the breakwater in Beirut Port and we are still here in the same situation. The crew was downsized to 4: Me, the senior engineer, the third engineer and the first mate.
I sent several requests for help to the Russian and Ukrainian embassies, and to the International Transport Federation, without any answer. We want to go back home, especially since we have not received our wages since September 2013.
We contacted Baroudi’s office who took the original documents of the ship to follow-up with the situation, and we are waiting for his feedback concerning the case.”
The Ship Inspection Service inspected the ship, and the results were the following:
- The ship deck was extremely corroded.
- Both cargo holds were extremely corroded.
- The hydraulic pipes used to open the hatch covers of the hold were corroded and the captain said that opening the hold hatch cover takes around three hours, which means that there is a severe failure in the unlocking system of these covers.
- The last time the ship was in dry dock and underwent a measurement of the iron thickness was on March 31, 2010.
- It is highly probable that there is a significant fissure in the external hull of the forepeak, since it is filled with water, and even after withdrawing the water from it, the water level rises again.
- The ballast water withdrawal systems from the Forepeak and the remaining tanks are not working.
- There is a fissure in the right and left ballast water tanks, and a cement box was installed inside both tanks to prevent the seawater from leaking into them (according to the captain statement, since it is impossible to penetrate into the tanks because their entrance is located inside the cargo hold no:1 filled with merchandise).
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- The food available to the crew is enough for one week only.
- The crew have not received their wages since November 2013.
- The psychological situation of the crew is bad.
- There are 20 tons of diesel on the ship, the power generator is working only 4 hours daily, with a daily consumption of 50 kg per day.
- There is no permanent electric power to ensure that emergency batteries are ready to use at any given time.
- There are 35 tons of freshwater, and the daily consumption is about 400 kg per day.
- The electric engine no:2 is not working.
- The engine room is dirty and there are oil spills all over the room in addition to smoke exhaust from the electric engine no:1.
- There are piles of garbage on the aft deck.
- The living conditions on board of the ship are not compatible with applicable laws.
- Some safety equipment will expire in April 2014.
- The maritime books and maps are not up to date.
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Section 6
Recommendations
- Contact the ship owner and obligate him to pay the port fees, the sailors’ wages and the remaining expenses.
- Contact the flag state of the ship and request them to take the necessary action to uphold their responsibility towards a ship that flies their flag, and the crew onboard.
- The mentioned ship exceeded the period it is allowed to stay in the dock and it must go to dry dock to undergo needed repairs, and measurement of the thickness of it is hull, especially with the suspected big fissure in the forepeak, and given that the captain highlighted the presence of a fissure in the right and left ballast water tanks no:1, in addition to the extreme corrosion of the internal and external decks.
- The merchandise present in the two holds since September 27, 2013, is a hazardous material according to the IMO Regulation 5.1 and a chemical chain reaction might happen, and the merchandise might be unfit for consumption after all this time and might leak into the sea given the situation of the corroded hull, the thickness of which has not been measured for over 4 years.
- The garbage piles onboard of the ship might lead to disease outbreaks and proliferation of germs.
- Since the wages of the crew were not paid and they do not have money and food and given the lack of normal living standards onboard the ship, the crew might damage the ship or even hurt themselves.
- The situation of the engine room might lead to a fire at any moment, and since the electricity onboard is not working, it would be impossible to extinguish the fire immediately which would lead to a disaster.
Based on the above, we suggest doing the necessary to ensure that the ship leaves Beirut Port and the Lebanese territorial waters, since it poses a permanent threat to the safety of maritime navigation and to the protection of the marine ecosystem from pollution.
Captain Haitham Shaaban
Ship Inspection Service