Shift of timber deck cargo on dry cargo vessel Sea Challenger during heavy weather
Location: High seas.
Completed PE Summary: Sea Challenger
A short summary of the accident and action taken:
| Merchant Vessel/Accident Details | |
|---|---|
| Vessel Name | Sea Challenger |
| Registered Owner/Manager | Lomar Shipping Ltd |
| Port of Registry | London |
| Flag | UK |
| Type | Dry cargo vessel |
| Built | 1998 |
| Classification Society | Germanischer Lloyd |
| Length Overall | 131.6m |
| Gross Tonnage | 6418 |
| Date/Time | 09/10/2004, 1235 |
| Location of Incident | Foreign high seas |
| Incident Type | Cargo handling failure and listing |
| Persons Onboard | 19 Crew |
| Injuries/Fatalities | None |
| Damage/Pollution | Minor damage |
Synopsis
This vessel suffered a shift of packaged timber deck cargo in storm force sea conditions.
Action taken
To prevent a similar accident occurring in the future, owners and masters of vessels which carry packaged timber deck cargoes were recommended to read the advice contained in MAIB’s report on a recent safety study on the carriage of Timber Deck Cargoes which can be found on this website
In addition, the owner of this vessel was recommended to:
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Consider applying high friction coatings to the hatch covers on ships that they own which carry timber deck cargoes.
-
Consider using more dunnage between the tiers of cargo to prevent packages resting on rope slings, which provide poor friction.
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Wrap timber packages with high friction waterproof covers.
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Consider using hog wires, which are lashings strung between the uprights and laid between each layer of timber packages, to help reduce the chances of cargo shift.