【E-PORTS’ Exclusive】Three ship incidents occurred last weekend, more than 10 people were killed and injured. (Note for sailing considerations)

This past weekend has been an eventful one. Due to the cold air affecting the seas near China, the deterioration of sea conditions and other reasons, there have been many maritime safety accidents in the seas near China.

1. Two coasters collided in the Taiwan Strait

Around 4 am on December 10th, Chinese coasters ANQIANG77 and ZHE FENG 566 collided in the Taiwan Strait 1.5nm southeast of Nanding island, Fujian Province waters. ABQUABG bow was damaged and ZHE FENG, which was in ballast, sank. 12 crew of ships are safe.

2. A carrier sank and 4 crew members fell into the water

On the morning of December 11th, in the sea 130 kilometers east of Xiamen Airport, a sand carrier sank and 4 crew members fell into the water. At 11:32 am, 4 crew were rescued by the helicopter. After checking the people, 4 people had hypothermia, 2 people had trauma, and the blood flow was unstoppable. The crew decided to send the rescued directly to the Xiang'an Hospital of Xiamen University for treatment. None of the four people are currently in danger of life.

3. A cargo ship sank in Yantai, Shandong, causing 14 people in distress, 4 people killed and 7 people still in research

At 4:32 am on December 12, the rescue duty room of the Weihai Rescue Bureau received an accident-related notification that the cargo ship “Tianfeng XX9”sank 30 nautical miles northeast of Yantai, Shandong. At that time, the offshore wind force was 7-8, and the wave height was 3-4 meters. The rescue ship and rescue helicopter cooperated to rescue 3 people in distress. In addition, 4 victims have been rescued. 1 victim was rescued by a nearby boat. The remaining 7 people are still in search and rescue. The search and rescue is still ongoing.

Many maritime safety accidents have caused very serious losses to people’s property and life safety. Except for some human factors such as the sand carrier sailing to the sea, in most cases it was caused by the cold wave and strong wind that caused the deterioration of the sea conditions.

The winter monsoon will gradually affect China's inland and coastal areas from north to south. Not only will it bring about cooling, rain and snow, but it will also begin to usher in a season of high incidence of cold waves and strong winds. So how to prevent the impact of cold waves on ship navigation?

Before sailing

1. Advanced deployment and preparation for sailing. The navigator should check the weather forecast in time and do weather analysis. Before the arrival of the cold wave, anti-cold wave and high wind work, including deck rigging fix, ship ballast adjustment, closing watertight doors and windows, chain-lockers should be done. Ships with poor wind resistance, such as crane ships, large empty ships, passenger ships, and fishing boats, must be prepared in advance for cold waves and high wind resistance.

2. Container ships should make sure the job completion of stowage, securing and lashing of cargo. First, pay attention to the combination of weight, especially box cargo or palletized cargo, to avoid weight imbalance and affect the stability of the ship. The second is to avoid wave damage, and take watertight measures for vents, guide doors, watertight doors, and hatch covers. Deck cargo should prevent waves from hitting the sea, especially to prevent containers from falling into the water. The third is to pay attention to preventing the goods from moving, and strictly follow the "Cargo Securing Manual" for reinforcement, padding, and lashing. Strengthen supervision and inspection to ensure that heavy cargo is stable, and break bulk cargo should be tightly packed without gaps to prevent accidents caused by cargo movement that affects the stability of the ship when encountering strong winds and waves.

En route

1. During the voyage, the ballast water and bilge well water level must be measured continuously to detect abnormal leakage in the cargo hold in time. When sailing in rough seas, it is generally difficult to detect if the cargo holds and ballast tanks are corroded and cracked and the hatch cover doors are not watertight. Especially at night, it is difficult to timely rescue when danger is found.

2. During the voyage, it is necessary to strengthen observation and measure the ship's position frequently to avoid ship yaw, grounding, and rocking accidents. When navigating, it is necessary to fully consider the factors of difficult maneuverability of the ship in rough seas, take avoidance measures as early as possible, and try to avoid turning around in bad weather.

3. Sailing in heavy sea, when the rolling period of the ship is approximately equal to the wave period, the phenomenon of resonant vibration will occur. During navigation, the course and speed should be adjusted appropriately to avoid synchronous rolling. When the bow of the ship is exposed to waves during the voyage, the voyage should be delayed to reduce the violent pitching.

4. In the face of the cold wave, pay attention to maintaining the temperature of the engine room and the steering gear room; take care to prevent freezing in the pump room, emergency generator room, emergency fire pump room, lifeboat and other isolation compartments. Pay attention to the heat preservation of the fuel tank and the state of the heat tracing pipe. Prevent fuel condensation from causing the main and auxiliary engines to fail to start; the cooling water and anchor chain water of each hydraulic station should be discharged in time after use.

Berthing and departing

1. The berthing/departing operations should choose the appropriate time. Try to choose slow currents as much as possible to avoid the rapid tide.

2. The impact of shallow water on ship maneuvering should be comprehensively taken into consideration. If a shallow water effect occurs when a ship is navigating in a port, the ship’s motion characteristics will change significantly. Attention should be paid to controlling the speed to prevent the hull from bottoming.

3. In the process of loading and unloading, pay close attention to the weather and sea conditions and the surrounding conditions of the ship, and adjust the cables in time to maintain a balanced force on the hull.

E-PORTS reminds vessels and personnel to pay close attention to weather changes, take safety precautions as soon as possible, strengthen observation, drive cautiously, and avoid risking operations at sea.