Tanker collision off Singapore spills 25,000 of fuel oil

     The Evoikos (Cypriot-registry 75,428-gt, 140,218-dwt tanker built in
1977, operated by Papaphilippou) and the Oraphin Global (Thai-registry
129,702-gt, 268,450-dwt tanker built in 1975, owned and operated by Thai
International Tankers Co. Ltd.) collided at 2100 15 Oct. near the Singapore
port limits, about five kilometers/three miles south of Pulau Sebarok. The
Evoikos was sailing from Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, to Singapore with
120,000 tons of marine fuel oil. Two cargo tanks ruptured spulling up to
25,000 tons of oil and the ship anchored three kilometers/two miles
southeast of Pulau Sebarok. Damage includes a gash on the port side 50
meters/164 feet long and 10 meters/32 feet wide, from the deck to below the
waterline. The Evoikos was chartered by Metro Trading International. The
Oraphin Global was sailing in ballast east to west. It is reportedly
co-insured with Denholm Shipping Management Overseas Ltd. Clean-up of the
spill has involved 34 vessels. Visibility at the time of the collision was
eight kilometers/five miles and both vessels had been warned of a collision
course by the Singapore Vessel Traffic Information Service.

Contship France suffers fire

     The Contship France (German-registry 23,596-dwt containership built in
1993, operated by Contship Containerlines Ltd.) exploded and caught fire at
Papeete late 15 Oct. Firefighters contained the blaze after three hours but
three were injured. Aerosol cans fueled the fire.

Zim Ravenna damaged in grounding

     The Zam Ravenna (Cypriot-registry 30,509-gt containership built in
1991), sailing from Shanghai, China, to Hong Kong ran aground 15 Oct. on
rocks at 30 degrees 40 minutes north, 123 degrees 17 minutes east. The ship
refloated itself but has flooding in the engine room and No. 5 cargo hold.

Fishing vessel floods off Canada

     The Vanessa MC (12-meter/39-foot fishing vessel) was escorted to port
by the Canadian Coast Guard at 1300 10 Oct. after taking on a list eight
kilometers/five miles off Chezzetcook, Nova Scotia. A Canadian Air Command
CC-130 series Hercules aircraft dropped a pump to the four-member crew.

Collision seriously damages fishing vessel

     The Ioanna (Greek-registry 493-gt, 1,328-dwt general cargo ship built
in 1965, operated by Alkionis II Shipping Co.), sailing from Euboea Island,
Greece, to Kavalla, Greece, collided with the Kampanaras (Greek-registry
fishing vessel), five kilometers/three miles off Porto Coufo, Chalkidiki,
Greece, the morning of 17 Oct. The fishing vessel was towed to Porto Coufo
half submerged.

Twelve rescued from ship grounded off France

     The Capetan Tzannis (Panamanian-registry 9,093-gt, 14,938-dwt,
145-meter/475-foot motor dry cargo ship built in 1971, operated by Trade
Winds Shipping) dragged anchor late 12 Oct. and ran aground 20 meters/65
feet off a beach in Anglet, France. The grounding was caused by an
electrical fault that occurred during a storm. Twelve were rescued while
nine crewmembers remained aboard. The ship was empty but had 350 tons of
fuel and diesel, 120 tons of which spilled when the ship's bow was holed.
The Capetan Tzannis took on water in its No. 2 cargo hold and also has a
damaged rudder. It had arrived from Cape Verde and was waiting to sail into
Bayonne, France, to load cargo for Cuba. The tug was refloated by three
tugs, including the Abeille Supporter (French-registry 1,330-dwt tug built
in 1975, operated by Les Abeilles), early 14 Oct.

Fidele Express grounds in Miami Beach

     The Fidele Express (Belize-registry 399-gt, 529-dwt,
45.7-meter/150-foot general cargo ship built in 1962, owned by Benjamin
Darvil) ran aground on South Beach in Miami Beach just after midnight 13
Oct. after breaking its anchor. The vessel grounded directly across from
the 21st Street lifeguard stand. It was waiting five kilometers/three miles
offshore to enter Miami after arriving from Gonaives, Haiti. The ship was
empty but had 5,700 liters/1,500 gallons of diesel that were lightered and
the vessel was refloated at 0600 14 Oct. An initial attempt towed the ship
about 9.1 meters/30 feet when it got stuck on a sandbar. The Fidele Express
has a crew of nine Haitian citizens. On 14 July, when named the Vanderpool
Express, the master and three other crewmembers were shot to death while
the ship was docked on the Miami River. A fifth man, a Jamaican citizen
found with knife wounds, died a month later.

Drifting tanker endangers platform in the Gulf of Mexico

     On 14 Oct., the Stavanger Prince (Norwegian-registry 87,464-dwt,
244-meter/800-foot tanker built in 1979, operated by DSD Shipping A/S)
drifted 80 kilometers/50 miles south of the Southwest Pass of the
Mississippi River. As the ship drifted towards a MARS platform, the 116
crewmembers shut the oil well and evacuated the structure using five
helicopters. A tug, responding to an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast by
the U.S. Coast Guard, took the tanker in tow by the stern and held the ship
on station eight kilometers/five miles south of the platform until
crankshaft repairs were completed.

Tanker loaded with naphtha loses engines, steering in Pentland Firth

     The Yusup K (Maltese-registry 10,000-gt, 16,421-dwt tanker built in
1985, operated by Marine Management Services Ltd.) lost its engines and
steering the night of 12 Oct. in the Pentland Firth, eight kilometers/five
miles off Holburn Head, Scotland. Three of the 26 Georgian crewmembers were
airlifted from the ship by a British Royal Air Force Sea King HAR Mk 3
helicopter. Weather conditions included a Beaufort Force 8 gale. The ship
was taken in tow by a tug early 13 Oct. after initially being stopped from
drifting by a tug from Thurso, Scotland. The Yusup K was carring 9,600 tons
of naphta from western England to Teesport, England.

Bulk carrier taken in tow after engine problems in mid-Atlantic

     The Blue Bay (Panamanian-registry 13,340-gt, 22,302-dwt bulk carrier
built in 1972, operated by Sherimar Management Co. Ltd.) develop engine
problems 11 Oct. about 400 kilometers/250 miles north of Sao Miguel in the
Azores Islands. The ship was taken in tow by the Fotiy Krylov (2,253-dwt
motor tug built in 1989, operated by Tsavliris) to Lisbon, Portugal.

British-registry vessel has engine breakdown off Scotland

     The St. Paul (British-registry 622-gt "safety" vessel built in 1961)
had an engine breakdown on 13 Oct. at 58 degrees 25 minutes north, 01
degrees 15 minutes east, about 216 kilometers/135 miles west of Wick,
Scotland. It had 12 people aboard and was taken in tow by the Smit-Lloyd
Sound (1,900-dwt tug built in 1983, operated by Smit-Lloyd B.V.).

Update on the Permaisuri

     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 in the
Strait of Malacca. Thirteen crewmembers were rescued by a Japanese-registry
vessel and taken to Nagoya, Japan, while the master, chief mate and radio
officer remained aboard.

More on the Chang Yun

     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. 4.6 kilometers/2.9 miles off Kaohsiung, Taiwan, after unloading
petroleum. Two crewmembers are missing. Twenty-six crew and five
maintenance personnel were boarding when an explosion near the central
hatch blew a 10-meter/33-foot hole in the starboard hull. A fire was
quickly extinguished but some oil spilled. The tanker was empty and
maintenance and repair work was being done.

Coastal Trader towed to Alaskan port

     The tug Chahunta towed the Coastal Trader (U.S.-registry 489-gt,
55-meter/100-foot fishing vessel owned by Coastal Transportation Inc.,
homeported at Seattle) to Port Caldera, Alaska, on 9 Oct. At 0300 6 Oct.,
the Coastal Trader 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.
The Coastal Trader was returning to Seattle from St. Paul in the Pribilof
Islands with frozen crab and pollock. An inspection of the vessel revealed
that the fire was confined to the aft 20 percent of the hull. The Coastal
Trader was have its cargo and hazardous materials removed before being
towed to Seattle.

Mount 1 owner identified

     The Mount 1 (85,963-gt, 161,805-dwt motor combination ship built in
1973) is reportedly owned by Five Star Shipping in Pakistan. The vessel
collided at 2300 26 Sept. with the ICL Vikraman (Indian-registry 31,734-gt,
55,879-dwt bulk carrier built in 1979, homeported at Madras and owned and
operated by India Cements Shipping Co. Ltd.), which broke in half and sank
near Tanjung Tuan, Malaysia. Twenty-nine people were killed and five were
rescued. The ICL Vikraman was sailing from Antwerp, Belgium, to Kaohsiung,
Taiwan, with 53,000 metric tons of steel coils and general cargo while the
Mount 1 was sailing in ballast from India to Singapore.

Relatives of six Dystos crewmembers file lawsuit

     Relatives of six crewmembers killed in the capsizing of the Dystos
(Greek-registry 6,197-dwt bulk carrier built in 1972, converted to a cement
carrier in 1985; operated by Heracles Shipping Co. and owned by AGET Cement
Group) have sued AGET Cement Group for negligence in failing to maintain
the vessel. They are seeking compensation of about U.S.$23 million. The
case will be heard in a court in Piraeus, Greece, on 24 Oct. The Dystos
capsized 28 Dec. off Kimi, Evia Island, Greece, in bad weather and sank 2
Jan. Seventeen crewmembers and three relatives aboard were killed. One
person survived. The ship was carrying 5,300 tons of cement from Volos,
Greece, to Piraeus.

Commissioners revoke license of Florida pilot

     The Florida Board of Pilot Commissioners voted 6 to 0 on 30 Sept. to
revoke the license of Thomas Baggett. On 18 Feb., 1996, an incorrect rudder
command caused the Tropicale (Liberian-registry 35,190-gt, 6,654-dwt,
178-meter/584-foot passenger ship built in 1981, operated by Carnival
Corp.) to run aground leaving East Bay in Tampa, Fla., with 1,155
passengers on a week-long voyage to Grand Cayman Island in the Bahamas and
Mexico. The ship had to make a turn to port into the Cut F channel but
grounded at Buoy 4F. Baggett was the pilot aboard. The commissioners took
action earlier, but in July, the First District Court of Appeals in Florida
told the board it needed to decide if the penalty was too severe. The
recent vote was a response to the court order. Bagget has had 14 complaints
or invesigations for accidents since 1982. In August 1993, he was involved
in a collision between two tugs pushing tank barges loaded with oil and a
vessel loaded with phosphate in Tampa Bay that caused a fire and oil spill.
He was suspended nine months and had just ended 20 months probation when
the Tropicale grounded. His license was suspended once before, was on
probation twice and was convicted of driving while intoxicated.