Dry-bulk boom shows ‘ugly side’

Substantial corrosion and an ill crew have been discovered on board a bulker sold in June.

The ugly side of shipping’s extraordinary boom has been vividly exposed by the detention of a 25-year-old panamax bulker branded a “rustbucket” by European port-state-control (PSC) authorities.

The physical condition of the 64,000-dwt Evangelia , held for 17 days in Hamburg and highlighted this week by the Paris MOU, was so poor that crew members contracted allergic bronchitis while working on board.

It will increase concern that the recent market highs are encouraging substandard ships to trade on.

Alarmingly, the ship was certified to trade by two of the industry’s leading classification societies, of which one, Bureau Veritas (BV), launched a prospectus this week for a share issue valuing the company at $5bn ( see story, page 30 ). The move is raising questions over whether profits will be put before safety.

The Evangelia was initially inspected in August after the ship’s crew, worried about their own safety and health, contacted the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF).

A medical report showed eight out of 11 engine-room crew were suffering from allergic bronchitis. The Paris MOU stated: “The health problems were caused by an enduring exposure of the engine crew to exhaust gases escaping from a broken compensator in the exhaust-gas channel of the main engine.”

According to the PSC assessment, ventilation heads for hatches were also badly corroded, access flaps to hatches were extremely corroded and watertight doors could not be closed. Oily water was also being transferred via hoses to the ballast tank.

The ship’s International Safety Management (ISM) certification was also found to have “broken down”.

The ship’s corroding hull was certified by Japan’s ClassNK, which recently boasted that the newbuilding boom had increased its registered fleet to a record breaking 150 million gt, making it the industry leader. No comment was available from ClassNK’s Tokyo office before TradeWinds went to press.

The bulker’s failed ISM certification was audited by France’s BV. BV took on the certification from another leading classification society, Lloyd’s Register (LR), in February and performed an interim audit. An LR spokesman says it had not been involved with the ship for the “best part of a year”.

The full audit was not conducted until the Hamburg PSC inspection in August. In a statement to TradeWinds, BV said: “Following an audit and further assessment of the case, BV decided to stop the ISM-certification process and informed the manager of the vessel.”

A BV spokeman added: “BV cannot know the condition of a ship or its manager until the vessel has been inspected.

“In this case, once that had been done, BV cancelled the ISM. It seems to me that that is the action of a safety-conscious class society.”

As for its flotation, Bernard Anne has gone on record as saying that it will make BV the most transparent of all societies, which must be good for safety ( see also page 30 ).

Despite its sorry condition, the market is still highly valuing this type of ship.

The Evangelia was under the management of Hellas Marine Services of Greece when it was detained while under voyage charter to French charter Cetraga for a grain cargo from Hamburg.

The vessel was bought for a reported $11.5m last December and was sold in June for $14.5m, netting a healthy profit. A spokesperson for Hellas says the owners decided to sell the vessel because it was not up to standard. The vessel was delivered to its new owner in September after being released by PSC. It is now trading under a new name and is understood to be under the control of London-based East European owners.

After the recent sale, shipbroker Clarksons lists the owner as “unknown”.

Paris MOU head Richard Schiferli says he is surprised that a ship of this nature was certified by leading class societies. He

Ovaj gore članak zorno pokazuje kakvo je stanje kad su i (pre)stari brodovi opet u punom pogonu

Tnx Basil

[smiley9]

Ode na 790, sad je prilika za dokup.

kad naš brod tone tone……….

Što nam se to dešava sa JDPL? Slaba kupnja…

netko je izgleda krivo protumačio vaš postani tekst kolega Basil[smiley11]

neka, nama dobro za dokup.
po 790 već jesam ako još bude bojažljivih samo čekam za još malo…[smiley2]

Može li mi netko reci ko se iskracava po ovim cijenama?
tko je lud?
[smiley1]

Ljudi, JDPL nam danas tone kao Titanic[smiley16] Nakon par dana rasta, očekivao sam približan scenari…