A maritime bulletin article gives updates about the recent grounding of a cargo vessel in Russia.
Cargo ship aground
Cargo ship with container capacity RISE SHINE drifted aground and broke in two in the morning Nov 9 in Vostok Bay west of Nakhodka, Russia, Japan sea, in stormy weather. The ship issued distress signal at 0602 LT (UTC +10) Nov 9.
The ship arrived at Vostochniy Port from Busan, moved to Vostok Bay to shelter from storm, but couldn’t hold on against wind and seas. 14 crew, all Chinese, said to be safe, they were still on board as of 0300 UTC Nov 9. SAR tug LAZURIT already left Vladivostok, arriving on site soon.
Read Also: [Watch] Container Ship Aground, Broke In Two?
Nov 9 1420 UTC UPDATE: The ship didn’t break in two, though there are cracks in hull, and engine room is flooded. All 14 crew evacuated by helicopter, all are safe. There are 199 containers on board loaded with consumer goods, such as auto spare parts, printers, vacuum cleaners, diapers, etc.
Confirmed the ship moved to Vostok Bay from Nakhodka Bay to wait out storm. SAR tug LAZURIT s nearby, waiting for weather to improve. Ship’s AIS missing during last 12 hours as of 1430 UTC Nov 9.
Nov 12 UPDATE: Salvage schedule included second row of booms to be placed around the ship, to fully prevent small (repeat – small, not “disastrous”) leak of oily water from reportedly, flooded engine room.
The ship equipped with pumps and hoses to siphon fuel from RISE SHINE bunker tanks is already on site, to commence fuel siphoning. Salvors, later, plan to offload the ship partially or fully, in order to refloat her. The ship dropped both her anchors, second one probably after crew found ship’s drifting.
Grounding analysis
In fall-winter seasons storms and bitter cold are brought by high-pressure atmospheric zones over Siberia. Vostok Bay has a rather bad reputation as a shelter from such storms – winds are treacherous, and most importantly, bottom in the bay can’t hold anchors securely enough, anchors are dragged, ships start to drift.
There’s little doubt as to the cause of RISE SHINE grounding – crew and Master, ignorant of Vostok Bay sheltering specifics, anchored and got a false sense of safety, most probably failing to regularly check ship’s position via control bearings and distances.
The ship has been caught unprepared when anchor dragged, and ship started to drift – A pure case of negligence and lack of seamanship.
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Source: Maritime Bulletin
