MSC Flaminia
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The MSC Flaminia is a container ship owned by the fund provider Conti Reederei from Putzbrunn near Munich. The ship flying the flag of Germany at the time became known through a fire disaster in the summer of 2012. Contradicting information on the number and content of the dangerous goods containers on the ship and the refusal of several countries to allow the ship to call at an emergency port were criticized by politicians and the public in dealing with such ship accidents.
The ship is managed by NSB Niederelbe Schiffahrtsgesellschaft and is owned by the Conti 11 closed shipping fund belonging to the Conti Group . Container Schiffahrts-GmbH & Co. KG MS “MSC Flaminia” . The ship is chartered out to the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), which uses it in their liner services.
The NSB Niederelbe Schiffahrtsgesellschaft offers three cabins, two double and one single cabin, for freighter journeys through its travel agency .
Technical specifications
The ship is powered by a ten-cylinder two - stroke diesel engine with an output of 57,100 kW . The engine, a MAN B&W 10 K 98 MC-C, which was built under license by Hyundai Engine & Machinery Co. , acts on a fixed propeller . The ship thus reaches a speed of 25 knots .
In the bow of the ship there is a transverse thruster control system with an output of 1,500 kW. It has a controllable pitch propeller .
Five generators are available for the power supply, four of which are Wärtsilä generators with a connected load of 2625 kVA each and a Caterpillar emergency generator with a connected load of 688 kVA.
There are parking spaces for 6,750 TEU or 3,326 FEU on board the ship . Connections are available for 500 refrigerated containers that can be loaded on deck.
The ship is approved for the transport of dangerous goods. The hull is reinforced with ice, and the ship is classified as ice class E.
history
Construction and commissioning
The MSC Flaminia was built in 2001 under construction number 4073 at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering in South Korea . The keel was laid on March 5, 2001 , the launch on May 26, 2001. After a construction period of five months, the ship was delivered on August 20, 2001 and put into service.
Average in July 2012
On July 14, 2012, on a voyage from Charleston to Antwerp in the Atlantic, an explosion and subsequent fire occurred on the ship.
Fire and explosion
The ship was in liner service en route across the Atlantic from the United States to Europe. It had started its ten-day voyage in the port of Charleston on the US east coast and was en route to Antwerp, where it was due to arrive on July 17th. The crew of the MSC Flaminia at the time consisted of 23 men: three Poles, 15 Filipinos and five Germans as well as two passengers whose nationality the shipping company did not provide any information.
On Saturday, July 14th, a fire broke out in hold 4. The ship was at that time between Canada and Great Britain about 1000 nautical miles from the nearest land on an easterly course. During the extinguishing attempts, there was another explosion for an as yet unexplained cause. Several seafarers were injured. The first officer later succumbed to his injuries. Another seaman is missing. At the beginning of October 2012, another seaman of the crew died as a result of the burns he suffered in the accident.
Rescue and recovery
After the official call for help from MSC Flaminia over the radio, the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC) of the British Coast Guard triggered the alarm and initiated the search and rescue operation : all ships in the vicinity were ordered to the scene of the accident on the 500 kHz emergency channels and via GMDSS . The next ships within range were the oil tanker DS Crown and the container ship MSC Stella to help the crew. The 300,000-ton tanker DS Crown belongs to the German Dr. Peters fleet and was around 24 nautical miles (around 45 km) from the wrecked ship at the time of the call for help . He had also heard the call for help directly and contacted the UK MRCC. The MSC Stella took three injured, some with severe burns, on board and set course for the Azores . Rescue helicopters came towards her from the Portuguese archipelago. They took over the injured and took them by air to the nearest hospital in the Azores. One of the three injured seafarers was treated in the intensive care unit on mainland Portugal. The remaining seafarers who had been rescued unharmed were brought to the British port of Falmouth on board the DS Crown .
On Tuesday, July 17, hit the redirected from the NSB container ship Hanjin Ottawa to the west was the Azores, on the scene one, were there the second engineer on board one of the assisting ships and then continued his journey to the Suez Canal continued .
Smit Salvage , who were tasked with salvaging the ship on July 16, initially sent two salvage tugs , the Fairmount Expedition of the Dutch shipping company Fairmount Marine and the Anglian Sovereign of the British shipping company JP Knight, to the scene of the accident. On July 18, the salvage tug Carlo Magno of the Italian shipping company Augustea was set off for the scene of the accident.
On July 17th, another explosion occurred on board, whereupon the fire fighting work of the Fairmount expedition , which had meanwhile arrived , had to be interrupted. The Anglian Sovereign was the second salvage tug to arrive on site on July 20.
On the evening of July 20, the Fairmount Expedition towed the damaged vessel . The Anglian Sovereign continued the fire fighting measures. Carlo Magno , who arrived at the tug on the evening of July 21, initially stayed on site to intervene if necessary.
At the beginning of the 33rd calendar week, the tug was waiting around 240 nautical miles from the British coast, while fires in individual containers continued to be extinguished on board. Later, the tug train had to move around 400 nautical miles from the coast due to worsening weather after no permit was granted to call into weather-protected areas near the coast or an emergency port in Ireland, Great Britain, France or Spain.
The shipping company finally received approval on August 21 to have the ship towed into German waters. Previously, teams of experts from France, England and the Netherlands had checked the stability of the ship and came to the conclusion that there were no more fires. On September 8, the ship reached its planned waiting position on the deep water road west of Heligoland . On September 9th it was towed to the new JadeWeserPort in Wilhelmshaven . There, the whereabouts of the missing seaman were investigated and the contaminated extinguishing water was pumped out.
It turned out that there were still embers on board at this time, so that the Wilhelmshaven fire brigade had to be alerted on the night of Wednesday, September 12th, because a container had started to glow from the inside. According to the emergency command, there were a number of containers with paper and wool on board, the contents of which had assumed a fire hazard. The last hot spots inside the containers loaded with wood and paper could only be extinguished at the end of October 2012.
charge
On August 31, Le Monde published that the MSC Flaminia had loaded around 40 tonnes of waste oil containing PCBs . This emerges from a five-page list of dangerous goods by the French environmental organization Robin des Bois, which the responsible French prefecture of the sea ( Préfecture maritime ) had designated as good. The waste oil came from transformers, was destined for a reprocessing plant of the Trédi group (a subsidiary of Séché Environnement ) in France and should have been landed in Le Havre . According to Trédi , the transport is correct and complies with the Basel Convention .
According to the article in Le Monde, dioxane, isopropylamine and the explosive nitromethane are other hazardous substances in the cargo. In the accident, a good half of the 2,876 containers were destroyed or damaged.
According to the shipping company, 151 containers of the cargo were declared as dangerous goods . The loading list contained, according to Radio Bremen 149 containers of toxic, flammable or corrosive substances. It was published on August 30, 2012. According to Spiegel Online , however, the loading list is still under lock and key. It is known to the accident experts in Wilhelmshaven, but may only be published with the consent of the shipping company.
discharge
After the MSC Flaminia moored in JadeWeserPort on September 9, 2012 , preparations for unloading began. On September 18, 2012, Radio Bremen reported that Germanischer Lloyd had an unloading concept . In order to ensure the stability of the ship, containers were unloaded and fire-fighting water was pumped out. The containers that were found to have an elevated temperature had priority. Then the containers with dangerous goods followed. After investigations by the average command on September 18 and the new comparison between the cargo list, the stowage plan and the dangerous goods list, the number increased to 153. The two additional containers contained vehicle parts and cosmetics.
The unloading of the freighter began on September 27, 2012. First, 80 undamaged containers, some of which contained dangerous goods, were removed from the ship. Damaged containers should then be taken off board. For this purpose, transport and cleaning tubs were partly made at the berth. The unloading ended on December 18, 2012. Of the 2,876 loaded containers, 153 were dangerous goods containers, of which 57 were intact, 24 damaged by smoke or heat and 72 destroyed. The latter were disposed of on site. The extinguishing water still on board had to be cleaned, but remained on board for reasons of stability. Before the ship left Wilhelmshaven for repairs in Romania on March 18, 2013, pumping out of the contaminated extinguishing water began at the end of February 2013.
Political discussion about the salvage of the ship
The United Kingdom initially prevented the ship from passing through its coastal waters with strict conditions. The British Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) banned the plan of the salvage company Smit Salvage to unload the freighter at a distance of 30 nm off the British coast, which would have taken several months. The MCA succeeded in having the damaged vessel towed away from the British coast. France , too , had refused to allow the MSC Flaminia to be towed to one of its ports, citing that the risk to the environment was too high .
Even before the ship reached the German coast, the plan of the average command in Germany caused political discussions. Lower Saxony's Environment Minister Stefan Birkner (FDP) said he was relying on the judgment of the shipping company's specialists that the ship was buoyant and the outer hull intact. The emergency command assumes a maximum of 150 dangerous goods containers on the ship. Maike Schaefer (Green Bremen) asked for information about what is in the dangerous goods containers and what risks are associated with the recovery. Kreszentia Flauger ( Die Linke Niedersachsen) thought it was a scandal that the contents of the containers were not known.
The environmental organization Greenpeace demanded that the ship should be brought to an emergency port instead of being towed through the Wadden Sea , as provided for in the EU security concept. The head of the North Sea Tourism Association described the towing of the ship through the Wadden Sea as "a huge mess". The EU directives would oblige the other countries to accept the ship. The Mayor of Varels , Gerd-Christian Wagner (SPD), who is also the second chairman of the German North Sea Coast Protection Association , warned that the Wadden Sea was degenerating into a “rubbish dump for damaged freighters”.
The fishing associations lacked clear liability rules in merchant shipping. Accidents with the transport of dangerous goods quickly led to environmental disasters and fishermen would then have to fear for their livelihood.
Investigations into the cause of the accident
Officials of the Stade waterway police, representatives of the Federal Bureau of Maritime Casualty Investigation (BSU) and the average command were involved in the investigation and the recovery of the containers . The responsible public prosecutor and police officer secured u. a. the data from the ship's own computer system.
The Hamburg Public Prosecutor's Office checked whether criminal offenses had been committed and conducted a preliminary investigation into negligent homicide.
On February 28, 2014, the Federal Bureau of Maritime Casualty Investigation presented its investigation report on the very serious marine casualty MSC Flaminia . Due to the damage in the area where the fire started, its exact cause can no longer be determined. However, it can be assumed that chemical processes in the cargo led to the fire. To this end, several possibilities are identified how various dangerous goods can have ignited.
Further recovery and repairs
The recovery of the hazardous goods and the pumping out of the extinguishing water were completed by March 8, 2013. After several delays , the MSC Flaminia left Wilhelmshaven on March 15, 2013 to be repaired in a shipyard in Mangalia, Romania . This project failed after the Romanian authorities accused the shipowner and the Federal Republic of Germany of illegal waste disposal. The disposal of the cargo remains and large amounts of scrap still in the ship (other, partly intact containers, which were located below the cargo melted by the fire and which contained stainless steel and marble, among other things) was then put out to tender and awarded to the Danish company , which had previously disposed of over 30,000 tons of contaminated extinguishing water that had accumulated during the extinguishing work in Wilhelmshaven. The ship then left Romania in early November and reached the port of Aarhus on November 22nd. There, parts of the scrap were removed from the ship in order to reduce the draft before the ship could be docked for further disposal of cargo residues and scrap at the Fayard shipyard in Odense . After this work was completed, the ship returned to Romania to be repaired at the Daewoo shipyard in Mangalia. The middle section of the fuselage, which was badly damaged in the fire, was cut out and replaced.
Modernization and recommissioning
The ship was modernized while it was in dock. Parts of the superstructure and the entire electrical system were replaced. The MSC Flaminia also got a different propeller and the bulbous bow was modified to save up to twelve percent fuel. In July 2014, the ship, which has meanwhile been brought under the flag of Malta, returned to service. Since then it has been used again in the liner service of the MSC shipping company.
literature
- Charge cleared . In: Deutsche Seeschifffahrt , Issue 10/2012, pp. 50/51, Association of German Shipowners (ed.), Hamburg 2012
- Michael Hollmann: Shippers are also liable for “MSC Flaminia” . In: Deutsche Seeschifffahrt , Issue 10/2012, p. 46, Association of German Shipowners (Ed.), Hamburg 2012
Web links
- Details of the ship
- Chronological overview of the salvage and the further course , Maritime Bulletin
- Report about the MSC Flaminia (Zeit Online; February 23, 2006)
- Investigation report of the Federal Bureau of Maritime Casualty Investigation (February 28, 2014)
Footnotes
- ↑ Fleet list ( Memento of the original from July 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. NSB travel agency
- ↑ a b c d Technical data of the ship , NSB Niederelbe Schiffahrtsgesellschaft
- ^ MSC Schedules , Mediterranean Shipping Company
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Press release by NSB Niederelbe Schiffahrtsgesellschaft ( Memento from February 11, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
- ^ A b Container Vessel Abandoned Mid Atlantic After Explosion, Fire , The Maritime Executive, July 16, 2012
- ↑ Severe setback caused by another explosion . In: Daily port report , July 19, 2012, p. 1, ISSN 2190-8753
- ↑ Martin Morcinek: Burning freighter in the North Atlantic: Rescuers reach the MSC Flaminia. ntv.de, July 18, 2012, accessed on July 18, 2012 .
- ^ Seriously injured seaman of the "Flaminia" died ( memento of November 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) , Radio Bremen, October 9, 2012, accessed on October 9, 2012
- ^ New explosions on a German freighter , RP Online, July 18, 2012.
- ↑ a b “Flaminia” takes a waiting position ( memento from September 6, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) , NDR -Niedersachsen, September 8, 2012, accessed on September 8, 2012
- ^ The unlucky freighter “Flaminia” docks in Wilhelmshaven , ZEIT Online , September 9, 2012, accessed on September 9, 2012
- ^ A b Marie-Béatrice Baudet: Quarante tonnes de déchets PCB sur le "MSC-Flaminia" . Le Monde , August 31, 2012
- ^ The "Flaminia" on the way to Germany ( Memento from November 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), Radio Bremen , September 3, 2012, accessed on September 10, 2012
- ^ The shipping company is silent on “Flaminia” hazardous substances , Spiegel Online , September 10, 2012, accessed on September 10, 2012
- ^ Specialists unload "MSC Flaminia" , Spiegel Online, September 28, 2012, accessed on October 9, 2012
- ↑ Unloading of the »MSC Flaminia« ended . In: Hansa , Heft 1/2013, p. 61, Schiffahrts-Verlag Hansa, Hamburg 2013, ISSN 0017-7504
- ↑ "OW Atlantic" pumps off . In: Daily port report from February 20, 2013, p. 4
- ^ Frank Binder: "MSC Flaminia" in the port of Aarhus . In: Daily port report of November 25, 2013, p. 4
- ^ Political dispute about dealing with "MSC Flaminia" , Hamburger Abendblatt , 23 August 2012
- ^ "Flaminia" transported explosive charge ( memento of August 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) , NDR, August 24, 2012
- ↑ Alone on the high seas: The Odyssey of Flaminia ( Memento of October 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) . Radio Bremen, September 13, 2012, accessed on October 9, 2012
- ^ Public prosecutor's office on board the “Flaminia” ( memento of November 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) , Radio Bremen, September 11, 2012, accessed on October 9, 2012
- ^ Investigation report by the Federal Bureau of Maritime Casualty Investigation
- ↑ a b "MSC Flaminia" on the way to the Baltic Sea , In: Daily port report from November 20, 2013
- ↑ New attempt: the unfortunate freighter is back on repair course . In: Wilhelmshavener Zeitung of January 30, 2014, p. 1
- ↑ Containers are recovered . In: Daily port report from November 28, 2013, p. 4
- ↑ a b The brandhærgede MSC Flaminia til Aarhus og Munkebo , Søfart, 18 November 2013.
- ↑ MSC Flaminia arrives at Aarhus , Maritime Denmark, November 22, 2013
- ^ Frank Binder: "MSC Flaminia" in the port of Aarhus . In: Daily port report of November 25, 2013, p. 4
- ↑ "Flaminia" repair . In: Wilhelmshavener Zeitung of February 21, 2014, p. 8
- ↑ "MSC Flaminia" back in Romania . In: Daily port report from February 20, 2014, p. 1/3
- ↑ "Flaminia" is back on the road after renovation . In: Wilhelmshavener Zeitung of July 26, 2014, p. 65
- ↑ "MSC Flaminia" will be back in action tomorrow ( memento of the original from July 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Daily port report, July 22, 2014, accessed July 22, 2014
