First mate killed, another injured in explosion in Croatia

     The Tomislav Grad (Croatian-registry 1,262-gt tanker owned by Rijeka
Nafta) suffered an explosion at Solin, Croatia, at 1045 8 Oct. The first
mate, Zarko Radovic, was killed and another crewmember was injured. The
ship had just begun unloading 1,500 tons of benzene and diesel fuel and the
blast shattered glass 200 meters/650 feet away. The prow of the ship is
seriously damaged but none of the other nine-person crew were injured.

Two missing after tanker explosion off Taiwan

     The Chang Yun (228,337-dwt tanker built in 1981, owned by Chinese
Petroleum Corp. and operated by Yangming Marine Transport Corp.) exploded 7
Oct. off Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Two crewmembers are missing. Twenty-six crew
and five maintenance personnel were boarding when an explosion blew a
10-meter/33-foot hole in the starboard hull. A fire was quickly
extinguished but some oil spilled. The tanker was empty.

Passenger ship, in flames, evacuated off Cyprus

     The Romantica (Cypriot-registry 9,511-gt, 4,810-dwt, 298-cabin,
149-meter/488-foot passenger ship built in 1939, operated by New Paradise
Cruises Ltd.) caught fire at 0550 4 Oct., 110 kilometers/69 miles off
southern Cyprus. All 487 passengers and 186 crew abandoned the ship
although there may have been two injuries. The Princesa Victoria
(Cypriot-registry 6,590-dwt passenger ship built in 1936, operated by Louis
Cruise Lines) took aboard all of the rescued, most of whom had boarded
lifeboats by the time the ship arrived 30 minutes after receiving a
distress call before dawn. Several people were lifted off the Romantica by
two Wessex HC Mk 5C helicopters of the British Royal Air Force's No. 84
Squadron, based at Royal Air Force Akrotiri, Cyprus. They were taken to the
Princesa Victoria. The Princesa Victoria subsequently sailed to Limassol,
Cyprus, arriving at 1330. Those aboard the Romantica included 225 Russian
citizens, 120 British citizens, 34 Hungarian citizens, 22 Swedish citizens,
21 Dutch citizens, 18 German citizens and others from Norway and Poland. At
least six Cypriot citizens were passengers an most of the crew is Filipino.
The Romantica developed a 20-degree starboard list as efforts were made to
fight the fire, which began in the engine room. Efforts to extinguish the
fire largely ended 7 Oct. after the ship was anchored off Limassol 5 Oct.
by EDT Towage & Salvage Co. Ltd. Some reports have stated that the fire
began in a control panel and some passengers said there were no fire
alarms. Thirty Hungarian citizens said that the Romantica's crew did not
have emergency training and that lifeboats had defective engines while
davits were difficult to operate due to rust. One couple said that most
crewmembers abandoned the ship before the passengers were off. The
Romantica was returning to Limassol after a day trip to Port Said, Egypt.
It was refurbished in 1988 and was insured for U.S.$4 million, with Lloyd's
of London reporting that it had a U.S.$1 million policy for the ship and
most of the rest in the London market. Protection and indemnity was with
Newcastle Protection and Indemnity Association. The ship's interior is
reportedly gutted. Lloyd's Register of Shipping said the Romantica was
given a three-month extension by Cyprus to comply with Safety of Life at
Sea fire regulations that came into force 1 Oct. The regulations apply to
passenger ships built before 1 Oct., 1994, and requirement that all
accomodations, stairways and corridors must have smoke and fire detection
and alarm systems and fire doors operated from a central location. A carbon
dioxide fire suppression system was installed in the Romantica's engine
room, but it is not known if it has been activated. About 80 percent of
SOLAS work was done by the time of the fire and most of the sprinkler
system was in place and operative, according to the owners. It has also
been announced that the Romantica was carrying diamonds, significant
because their value can be claimed by the salvor. EDT Towage & Salvage has
placed a lien on the ship.

Tanker abandoned after fire

     The Permaisuri (Indonesian-registry 997-gt, 2,523-dwt tanker built in
1971, operated by P.T. Bumi Perkasa Bahtera Ltd.) had a fire 6 Oct. at 03
degrees 05 minutes north, 100 degrees 28 minutes east, off Indonesia. It
has been abandoned.

Crew rescued after fishing vessel fire in the Gulf of Alaska

     At 0300 6 Oct., the Coastal Trader (U.S.-registry 489-gt,
55-meter/100-foot fishing vessel owned by Coastal Transportation Inc.,
homeported at Seattle) had an engine room fire about 208 kilometers/130
miles south of Sitka, Alaska, at 54 degrees 59 minutes north, 135 degrees
23 minutes west. The crew fought the fire until at 0730, a reflash in the
pilothouse forced them to abandon the vessel. Two U.S. Coast Guard
helicopters rescued the seven from a liferaft in conditions that included
seas up to 6.1 meters/20 feet and 35-knot winds. They were flown to Sitka.
At last report, the vessel was stable with a small fire near the
pilothouse. The forward 80 percent of the vessel is unharmed, according to
the Coast Guard. The Coastal Trader was returning to Seattle from St. Paul
in the Pribilof Islands with frozen crab and pollock.

Superferry 2 hits several vessels in Manila

     The Superferry 2 (Philippines-registry 6,000-gt ferry operted by WG&A)
lost control as it approached the North Harbor of Manila, the Philippines,
on 5 Oct. and hit several vessels. Six were damaged, with a 150-dwt tanker
and a yacht sinking. There were no injuries. The master of the ferry has
been suspended and the vessel left Manila after repairs the same day.

Ruta damages yachts in England

     The Ruta (Maltese-registry 1,593-gt, 2,583-dwt motor bulk carrier
built in 1975, operated by Morline Ltd.) hit several yachts in the Pinmill
area while leaving Ipswich, England, the morning of 10 Oct. The ship was
sailing to Montrose, Scotland. One yacht sank and several were damaged.

Maltese-registry ship wrecks Suez Canal bank

     The Madranil Vael Kut (Maltese-registry) hit a newly created
embankment in the Suez Canal on 29 Sept. while sailing from Ecuador to
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with 50,000 tons of bananas. It is being held at Port
Said, Egypt, until the owners guarantee to pay U.S.$2 million in damages.
The ship hit the bank after its engine seized.

U.S. Navy frigate locates disabled Iraqi-registry dhow

     The U.S. Navy's Oliver Hazard Perry-class Guided-Missile Frigate
U.S.S. Elrod (FFG 55) assisted an Iraqi-registry dhow in the northern
Arabian Gulf on 3 Oct. The crew of the 10-meter/33-foot dhow displayed a
black flag and after contacting the vessel by radio, the U.S.S. Elrod
launched a rigid-hull inflatible. The dhow had been adrift for three days
after its engine failed and two crewmembers became ill. After offering
assistance to the ill crewmembers, the U.S.S. Elrod arranged for a United
Arab Emirates-registry dhow to tow the Iraqi-registry vessel to Iraq.

Fishing vessel disabled off New Jersey

     The U.S. Coast Guard "Point"-class Patrol Boat U.S.C.G.C. Point Batan
(WPB 82340) was en route 3 Oct. to the Helen Claire (U.S.-registry
15-meter/50-foot fishing vessel, homeported at Manasquan, N.J.), 160
kilometers/100 miles east of Cape May, N.J. The Helen Claire's fuel pump
failed and the cutter was to tow the vessel to Cold Springs Marina in Cape
May. The fishing vessel has three people aboard.

Operations to recover missing crewmembers of the ICL Vikraman ends

     Operations to recover the bodies of 29 people killed in a collision in
the Strait of Malacca have ended. At 2300 26 Sept., the ICL Vikraman
(Indian-registry 31,734-gt, 55,879-dwt bulk carrier built in 1979,
homeported at Madras and operated by India Cements Ltd.) sank near Tanjung
Tuan, Malaysia, after colliding with the empty Mount 1 (85,963-gt,
161,805-dwt motor combination ship built in 1973) at 02 degrees 18.5
minutes north, 101 degrees 51 minutes east. The ICL Vikraman sank after
breaking in half. The ship was hit on the starboard side amidships and top
of its mast with a radar and antennas is visible above the water. The Mount
1 suffered a large hole near the watermark above the bulbous bow and
anchored at Port Dickson, Malaysia. The ICL Vikraman was sailing from
Antwerp, Belgium, to Kaohsiung, Taiwan, with steel products while the Mount
1 was sailing in ballast from India to Singapore. Five were rescued from
the ICL Vikraman: a cadet, Carthic Visakhapatnam, 21; the second engineer,
Sanabala Kamaraju and his wife, S. Neezima; the electrician, S.
Puroshomyaman; and another crewmember, V. Baharani. The five were rescued
by the Laemthong Glory (Thai-registry 15,069-dwt dry cargo ship built in
1976, operated by Neptune Orient Lines Ltd.) and the Royal Malaysian Navy's
Kasturi-class Frigate K.D. Lekir (26). Malaysia said that the bodies of a
crewmember and the 2-year-old boy were found last week, while 12 bodies
remain on the ship and 15 are missing. The boy was the son of Kamaraju and
Neezima.

Alaska Supreme Court rules Hazelwood was properly convicted

     In a decision announced 3 Oct., the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that
Joseph Hazelwood was properly convicted of negligence in the grounding of
the Exxon Valdez. The court affirmed jury instructions used in the criminal
trial, which ordered a conviction if Hazelwood was considered to have
committed simple negligence. Hazelwood said criminal sanctions were
justified only in cases of extreme negligence. The 2 to 1 decision was
written by now-retired Justice Jay Rabinowitz. The Alaska Court of Appeals
will now review other issues, such as how much of the evidence should have
been allowed. Hazelwood was the master of the Exxon Valdez when it ran
aground 24 March, 1989, in Alaska's Prince William Sound. About 38,300,000
liters/10,080,000 gallons of oil was spilled.

Green Opal salvage awarded

     U.K. P&I Club has awarded salvage of the Green Opal
(Panamanian-registry 6,176-dwt bulk carrier built in 1976, operated by
Dooyang Line Co. Ltd.) to Tsavliris Salvage (International) Ltd. The ship
sank in the Hooghly River, 40 kilometers/25 miles east of Calcutta, India,
on 19 June after colliding with a tug towing a barge. All 20 crew were
rescued. The ship was sailing to Keelung, Taiwan, with 7,000 tons of steel
coils and billets.

TPAO removed

     Omur Salvage Co. Ltd. has completed recovery and removal of the TPAO
(Turkish-registry 86,595-gt, 163,308-dwt combination built in 1977 and
homeported in Istanbul, Turkey; owned and operated by Ditas Deniz) from
Tuzla Bay, Turkey. The ship exploded and caught fire in Tuzla Dockyard in
Istanbul at 1530 13 Feb. The fire spread to the Klazina C (1,548-gt,
2,554-dwt bulk carrier built in 1983, operated by Carisbrooke Shipping
P.L.C.). The Klazina C's accomodations area was damaged. The TPAO arrived
at the yard for repairs 5 Feb. with 500 tons of fuel-oil and 25 tons of
diesel. Twenty-seven people were injured, 19 of them firefighters. Two
people, including a Chinese citizen, were injured in the initial explosion.
The explosion shattered windows in buildings 2.4 kilometers/1.5 miles away.
During salvage, the No. 10 hatch cover was found to have been propelled by
the blast through the pilothouse and came to rest 500 meters/1,600 feet
from the cargo hold.

More on Rhode Island spill settlement

     Those admitting criminal negligence in Rhode Island's worst oil spill
are Eklof Marine Corp., Odin Marine Corp., Thor Towing Corp., Leslie Wallin
and Gregory Aitken. They will pay U.S.$7 million in fines as part of a plea
agreement. On 19 Jan., 1996, the North Cape (U.S.-registry
104-meter/340-foot long single-hull tank barge, built in 1976, owned by
Odin Marine and operated by Eklof Marine) ran aground off Moonstone Beach
near South Kingstown, R.I. It was carrying 15 million liters/four million
gallons of No. 2 heating oil and damage to nine of 16 cargo tanks caused a
spill of 3.15 million liters/828,000 gallons. The barge was being towed
from IMTT Terminal in Bayonne, N.J., to Providence, R.I., by the Scandia
(U.S.-registry 35.1-meter/115-foot long tug, with 4,000-horsepower, built
in 1969, owned by Thor Towing and operated by Eklof Marine) when an engine
room fire began during in a storm. The six crew abandoned the tug and were
rescued. The tow then went aground. The barge was refloated a week later
and towed to New York while the tug was pulled off the beach a month after
the incident. As part of the agreement, Eklof Marine acknowledges that the
spill was the result of criminal negligence that resulted in a tow
improperly equipped to navigate in the weather it experienced. Aitken, the
tug's master, and the companies also said the spill occurred after storm
warnings were ignored. Wallin is president of Eklof Marine. As part of the
deal, half of the fine will go to the federal government for wetlands
preservation with the rest to Rhode Island. Also, U.S.$1.5 million will be
given to The Nature Conservancy and Eklof Marine will spend U.S.$1 million
on upgrading its vessels. Clean-up costs of U.S.$3.3 have already been
reimbursed.