Amber Lagoon class
 Stern view of the lead ship Amber Lagoon
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The Amber Lagoon class is a series of three cargo ships operated by the Hamburg shipping company MACS Maritime Carrier Shipping . One of the ships, the Purple Beach , developed smoke in a hold in the North Sea on May 25, 2015 , which was initially assumed to be at risk of explosion .
history
The ships were built and delivered by Shanghai Shipyard & Chengxi Shipyard between 1996 and 1998. Initially, one of the three ships was used in the Europe-Africa service and two in the USA-South Africa service of the sister company Gulf Africa Line (GAL). After taking over new ships of the Blue Master II class for this service, MACS transferred the Amber Lagoon and Purple Beach to the newly opened route between Northern Europe and the USA in 2014.
Purple Beach 2015 accident
On the evening of May 25, 2015 , smoke developed in hold 3 in the North Sea on the ship, which was loaded with 20,000 tons of nitrophoska , among other things . The crew then used the on-board extinguishing system and flooded the hold with carbon dioxide . The ship, which was on the way from Antwerp to Brake , was at that time about 30 kilometers west of Helgoland on the deep water road . 54 ° 3 '40.1 " N , 7 ° 27' 51.4" E
The emergency command in Cuxhaven , which took over the management of the accident, first sent the multi-purpose ship Mellum to help Purple Beach . A fire fighting team was also brought on board. After pollutants were found in the air during measurements, the 22-strong crew and members of the fire-fighting team were taken to a hospital as a precautionary measure. The area within five kilometers of the ship has been evacuated .
In addition to the Mellum , the Purple Beach also came to the rescue of the Neuwerk and the Nordic deep-sea tug . The ships tried to contain the smoke with the help of spray mist . The German Maritime Search and Rescue Service took part in the rescue cruisers Hermann Rudolf Meyer , Bernhard Gruben and Hermann Marwede in the rescue operation. The authority ships Vogelsand and Nordergrund were also in operation at times. A total of 85 emergency services were involved in dealing with the accident.
At times 45 degrees were measured on the outer skin of the freighter. It is unclear whether it is a fire in the hold or a chemical reaction of the loaded fertilizers. In addition to the Nitrophoska, the Purple Beach had around 1,300 tons of fuel on board.
During the course of May 27, 2015, the cloud of smoke became smaller. The outer skin of the burning freighter continued to be cooled. On May 30, experts were unable to board the ship because of the bad weather. After the extinguishing work could be completed on May 31st, the ship was towed to the JadeWeserPort in Wilhelmshaven on June 1st . There, samples were taken from the holds affected by the incident and parts of the ship were cleaned. After no further heat development could be determined on the damaged vessel, the emergency command ended the operations management on June 12. On August 12, 2015, the ship was towed from JadeWeserPort to the north port. There the ship was examined further and finally unloaded. In January 2017 the ship was sold for demolition. The ship left Wilhelmshaven on March 28, 2017 in the tow of the tug Onyx towards Aliağa , where it arrived at the Aliağa scrapping yards on April 24, 2017 .
Technical data and equipment
The ships are propelled by an eight - cylinder two-stroke diesel engine . The Sulzer 8 RTA 52 U engines with an output of 12,480 kW were manufactured under license by the shipyard and operate on a fixed propeller . The ships can thus reach a speed of 17 knots .
Three generators with an apparent power of 920 kVA each and an emergency generator with an apparent power of 125 kVA are available for the power supply.
Each of the ships is equipped with four cranes , three of which can lift 40 tons and one 70 tons. The cranes are arranged amidships. The volume of the cargo holds closed by folding hatch covers amounts to a total of 45,015 m³ of grain space or 43,637 m³ of ball space . The ship can load 1486 TEU . On deck there is space for 20 rows of 20-foot containers one behind the other and ten rows next to one another. The containers can be stowed in up to five layers on top of each other. Cell guides , also for up to four layers of containers, were arranged on the deck directly in front of the deckhouse , which is located in the stern area of the ship .
The hull of the ships is reinforced with ice ( ice class "E").
Class overview
| Amber Lagoon class | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Building name | Shipyard / construction number |
IMO number | Keel laying, launching, delivery |
Client | Renaming and whereabouts |
| Amber Lagoon | Shanghai Shipyard / 167 |
9138123 | November 30, 1996 May 20, 1997 June 1997 |
Amber Lagoon Shipping Vineta shipping company MACS Shipping, Hamburg |
Magnolia (2017) → in motion |
| Purple Beach | Shanghai Shipyard / 168 |
9138135 | May 20, 1997 October 21, 1997 February 1998 |
Purple Beach Shipping Vineta shipping company MACS Shipping, Hamburg |
2017 demolition in Aliağa |
| Gray Fox | Shanghai Shipyard / 169 |
9151905 | October 21, 1997 March 25, 1998 June 30, 1998 |
Gray Fox Shipping Vineta shipping company MACS Shipping, Hamburg |
Gray (2018) → from August 15, 2018 demolition in Gadani Beach |
| Lloyd's Register, Equasis, large tonnage | |||||
Web links
- Chemical reaction in the fertilizer cargo on board the PURPLE BEACH , investigation report 198/15, Federal Bureau of Maritime Casualty Investigation , October 2018 (PDF, 25.9 MB)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Freighter threatens to explode in the North Sea. In: NDR.de. May 27, 2015, accessed May 27, 2015 .
- ↑ Havariekommando, press release no.7, May 27, 2015 (PDF file, 32 kB).
- ^ "Purple Beach" accident - "It is not clear what is happening in the hold" , Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , May 26, 2015.
- ↑ a b Smoke development on cargo ship - Havariekommando takes over overall operations management , Havariekommando, press release No. 1, May 26, 2015 (PDF file, 33.1 kB).
- ↑ MACS Transatlantic Westbound Schedule ( Memento from May 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF file, 294 kB).
- ↑ a b 36 people flown out , average command, press release no.3, May 26, 2015 (PDF file, 20.5 kB).
- ↑ Emergency on the North Sea freighter: No all-clear. In: NDR.de . May 26, 2015, accessed May 26, 2015 .
- ↑ Warning of odor nuisance in the area of the western North Sea , Havariekommando, press release No. 4, May 27, 2015 (PDF file, 20.4 kB).
- ↑ Containment of the cloud of smoke shows initial success , Havariekommando, press release No. 5, May 27, 2015 (PDF file, 19.2 kB).
- ^ Smoke development on a cargo ship in the German Bight , German Rescue Society, May 26, 2015.
- ↑ Wind hinders the rescue of the "Purple Beach". NDR, May 30, 2015, accessed May 30, 2015 .
- ↑ PURPLE BEACH towing association on the way , press release No. 14, Havariekommando, June 1, 2015. Accessed June 1, 2015.
- ↑ The emergency command ended the mission "Purple Beach". (PDF file, 31.6 kB) Havariekommando, press release No. 22, June 12, 2015, accessed on August 17, 2015 .
- ↑ The damaged ship is now in the north harbor. Jeversches Wochenblatt, August 13, 2015, accessed on August 17, 2015 .
- ^ Freighter “Purple Beach” is being unloaded , Wilhelmshavener Zeitung, May 18, 2016. Accessed January 6, 2017.
- ^ The unlucky freighter "Purple Beach" is being scrapped , Hansa - International Maritime Journal , January 5, 2017.
- ↑ IMO 9752400
- ↑ Purple Becah drives to scrapping. March 29, 2017. Retrieved December 19, 2019 .
- ↑ The unfortunate freighter "Purple Beach" is towed to the scrapping yard. Jeversches Wochenblatt, January 1, 2017, accessed on January 3, 2017 .
- ↑ Lloyd's Register, London, various years
- ↑ Equasis homepage (English)
- ↑ grosstonnage homepage (English)