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AMSA report: corroded steel contributed to cargo loss

The Australian Transportation Safety Bureau (ATSB) has released its final report on the container spill involving the 'APL England', now sailing as 'ZIM Haifa', off Australia's eastern coast on May 25, 2020, and it has laid the blame on badly corroded lashing arrangements.  The ship had left Ningbo, bound for Australia, partially laden with 3,161 containers aboard. Before departure, the master and chief mate ran the numbers on the ship's load computer and found that the ship had nine lashing force exceedances. Since the vessel's changing ballast and fuel condition would reduce these numbers to an acceptable range during the voyage, they carried on without making any changes.  On May 22, as she neared Australian waters, a weather system began to develop off New South Wales, generating swells of about 15-20 feet. On the morning of May 23, as the 'APL England' passed off the coast of Port Macquarie, the weather deteriorated and the master reduced speed to seven knots to reduce rolling. All lashings were checked by the crew.  That night, winds increased to about 45 knots and waves to about 18-25 feet. The ship rolled heavily for hours, enough to wake up sleeping crewmembers and set off engine room alarms. On May 25 at about 6 a.m. the ship rolled through about 25 degrees each side. The rolling continued, and it was so severe that the main engine lost lube oil suction and shut down automatically due to loss of oil pressure.  The conditions were bad enough that the master and chief mate opted to turn around and head north, with the weather. As dawn broke, the mate noticed that a stack of boxes had toppled aft of the accommodations block and another forward of the wheelhouse.  As Sydney and other nearby ports were closed by heavy weather, APL England continued north to Brisbane, the nearest port of refuge. She entered port for inspection and salvage on the morning of May 27.  On arrival, inspectors found that she had lost 50 containers over the side, and that another 79 on board were damaged. Over 550 corroded or worn lashing plates also required replacement, along with significant amounts of deck steelwork and structures. This included wasted steel in locations where containers had been lost over the side. Some of the lashing plates were reduced to less than 5 mm effective cross-sectional thickness from the original 25 mm plate, the ATSB found.  APL repaired the fittings aboard the 'APL England' and had a closer look at all of the vessels in its fleet, making repairs as required, according to ATSB. Parent company CMA CGM has also taken safety actions in response to the agency's findings, and class society DNV has added guidance on allowable wear levels for container lashings and related fixtures.  After the 'APL England''s post-accident yard period was completed, class surveyors noted that "numerous" corroded or thinned brackets and stiffener plates still needed to be repaired.. The ship was sold to new owners shortly thereafter, and she continued to operate as the 'ZIM Haifa'. Over the last two years, port state inspectors have recorded about 20 deficiencies on board the 'ZIM Haifa,' including issues with her propulsion, electrical equipment and steering gear. The 'APL England''s master on the casualty voyage, Malaysian national Capt. Mohd Zulkhaili Bin Alias, faces one criminal charge of taking a vessel to sea while unseaworthy. He has been allowed to return home while awaiting trial.  Report with photos: https://maritime-executive.com/article/atsb-corroded-steel-contributed-to-apl-england-cargo-spill

Master of APL England charged with operating an unseaworthy vessel

20 months after the 'APL England', now ssailing as 'Z'IM Haifa', lost containers overboard in a storm, a court in Brisbane has entered formal charges against the captain clearing the way for a trial to proceed. The prosecutor failed to make the case for one set of charges against the captain for pollution but the court agreed the captain should face charges of operating the ship in an unseaworthy condition. The charges were filed against the captain while the Australian Transportation Safety Bureau continues its investigation and is yet to release a final report on the incident. The charges were brought by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority against Mohd Zulkhaili Bin Alias, a Malaysian citizen aged 44, who was in command of the vessel which was sailing from Ningbo to Melbourne, when it encountered gale-force winds and heavy seas 46 nautical southeast of Sydney on May 24, 2020. At daylight, the officers determined that the ship had lost 50 boxes overboard while a further 63 were damaged, some hanging over the side of the vessel, but remained aboard. They later determined that 23 of the containers lost overboard were empty, while one contained a dangerous cargo, dry powder fire extinguishers, and the others had furniture, medical face masks, shields, and various other goods. During the hearing in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Jan 24, 2022, prosecutors had sought to confirm charges of operating the ship in such a manner to cause pollution or environmental damage and a second charge of dumping garbage into the ocean. Prosecutors argued under the law any plastic put into the sea was garbage while the defense said that it was loaded as cargo and that the ship had not discharged waste into the ocean. The court agreed with the defense dropping the charges of pollution. The prosecution, however, substituted a charge that the vessel was unseaworthy when it put to sea and the court agreed with that charge. The captain remains free on bail in Malaysia awaiting a trial date. Supporting the prosecution’s case, the preliminary report from the ATSB highlighted heavily rusted lashings on the vessel that failed due to wastage, wasted container guides and deck structure, failing lashing eyes, and failed container foundations. ATSB transport safety investigators boarded the vessel to survey the damaged container stacks, inspect the container lashing equipment, download the vessel data recorder and video recording system, and interview the crew when it docked in Brisbane after the incident. Generally, the ship’s lashing equipment appeared in good condition. However, many of the ship fittings including lashing eyes, lashing bridges and deck structures were found to be heavily corroded and wasted. The examination of the container stowage arrangement showed several potential issues. They found missing twistlocks and the use of “high cube” as opposed to standard height containers in the ship’s aft-most container bay, which they believe affected the security of the stow above the container cell guides. They also reported that the loading computer’s lashing and forces checks did not show any conflicts for this arrangement. The ATSB preliminary report said that the vessel had slowed during the storm but that morning underwent a series of very heavy rolls, to about 25 degrees either side of upright. A steering system alarm sounded, followed by an engine room alarm that showed main engine piston cooling oil low inlet pressure, prompting an automatic shutdown. The crew recovered quickly and restarted the engine with the ship underway sailing with the weather about 10 minutes after the incident. Prosecutor believed that the ship was not safely loaded in China. The charges of unseaworthiness related to the load not being securely and properly tied down to meet the "ordinary perils of a voyage."

Container loss on court

The 'APL England' - now sailing as 'Torrance' -, that lost 50 of containers overboard off Australia's east coast between May 23 and 28, 2020, had severely corroded lashing plates making it unseaworthy, a court has heard. Its Malaysian master Mohd Zulkhaili Bin Alias was facing two charges after the containers toppled off the vessel when it encountered rough seas while sailing to Melbourne from China. One offence was relating to the disposal of garbage from a ship into the sea, the other relating to the failure to ensure a vessel does not cause pollution has been replaced with a charge of taking a vessel to sea while unseaworthy between May 11 and 28. Alias was granted permission in June last year to leave Australia and return home. The Crown's evidence is the ship was "not safely loaded" in China, commonwealth prosecutor Nicholas Robinson QC told Brisbane Magistrates Court on July 5, 2021. He said lashing plates were severely corroded and much weaker than they ought to have been. In addition, turn buckles were not tightened properly and the nuts on them not securely fixed.. When the ship hit rough weather as anticipated, some 70 or so containers shifted and 50 went overboard," he said. The unseaworthiness offence related to the load not being securely and properly tied down to meet the "ordinary perils of a voyage". Defence barrister Sophie Harburg has applied to cross-examine three expert witnesses during Alias's committal hearing. The application was opposed by the prosecution. The vessel was ordered to the Port of Brisbane for inspection by Australian Maritime Safety Authority officers after losing the containers about 75km off Sydney. The court heard the witnesses were two port surveyors and a coxswain, all from the AMSA. The coxswain cut four lashing plates from the deck for forensic examination, saying they represented the standard of plates he could see without going into the bays where containers were lost because they were still in a "precarious" position and in need of work, Mr Robinson said. Ms Harburg said the defence wanted to question the coxswain about the lashing plate sample selection and the port surveyors' area of specialised expertise. Magistrate Paul Byrne said shipping lines know how bad the weather can get. An extreme adverse weather event would be the minimum the loading should be for. Mr Byrne refused the application. The case is listed in the same court on July 23, with the committal to be heard on a date yet to be decided.