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On Thursday 22nd February the Maritime and Coastguard agency detained a
Bahamas flag 36,433 GT bulk carrier. The Golden Glory, was boarded by a
team of surveyors from the MCAs Liverpool Marine Office, who arrived to
conduct a Port State Control inspection following a report from Customs
regarding crew conditions on board.
Inspection of the vessel by the surveyors found the overall condition of
the vessel to be very poor. The vessel had incurred heavy weather damage,
but this had not been reported to the MCA or to the vessels Classification
Society. To date the inspection has revealed in excess of 30 deficiencies,
some of which include:
· Serious crack in the forward starboard deck
· Cracked stiffeners on the port side
· Sounding pipe sheared at deck level
· Fire main holed and leaking
· Seawater pipe-work for domestic fridge condenser leaking
· Insufficient generator power
· Defective fire doors
· Insufficient food on board for crew
· Multiple radio equipment deficiencies
In addition to the technical deficiencies, a major non-conformity was
raised against Safety Management System, under section 10 of the ISM Code
namely maintenance of the ship and equipment due to the large number and
serious nature of deficiencies found.
The Port State Control inspection has now been suspended and the Golden
Glory will remain under detention until the deficiencies have been
rectified and a satisfactory audit has been carried out by the Recognised
Organisation that issued the ISM Certificates. This vessel was also
detained in Hamburg on 8th January this year.
Pat Dolby, Head of the MCAs Inspection Branch observed,
"This is a classic case of serious neglect by the vessels owners and
operators, and to allow the Golden Glory to continue to trade in its
present condition would pose an unacceptable risk to the safety of its
crew and other seafarers.
"Operators who are not prepared to maintain their vessels in accordance
with internationally agreed standards must appreciate that the Maritime
and Coastguard Agency will not hesitate to detain dangerously substandard
vessels."
Editor's notes: Ex CLIPPER GLORY, ex CHINA GLORY
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