Marine

Citation

(1999), "Marine", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 8 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.1999.07308eac.002

Marine

Marine

8 October 1998 - Lake Banyoles, Spain

At least 19 pensioners drowned and more were feared trapped today when pleasure vessel Anna, with 141 French passengers on board, sank in a lake in north-eastern Spain, a local government official said. Emergency crews were rushing to Lake Banyoles in Gerona province in an effort to rescue passengers and treat the injured, the official said. "Right now, we know of 16 dead," a Catalonia regional government spokesman said. "There could be many more victims because a lot of them are still trapped in the vessel." Authorities said a number of people were injured but it was not immediately known how many. One witness said the vessel started sinking soon after she left the dock and that some panic-stricken passengers jumped into the water. Scuba divers were being used to search for bodies, officials said.

26 August 1998 - Okinawa, Japan

Ten Filipino seafarers are missing, feared dead, following the capsize of m bulk carrier Sea Prospect (18,793gt, built 1996) off Okinawa on Wednesday night (26 August). Sea Prospect issued SOS signals around 2100, local time, while 320km south-east of Naha City. She was en route from Indonesia to Hoshoshima port in Miyazaki prefecture, Kyushu, with a cargo of nickel ore. Search aircraft from Japan's Maritime Safety Agency rushed to the scene, and confirmed that 10 of the 21-strong crew had been saved by m bulk carrier Star Michatis. A third vessel, m bulk carrier Suzaku, recovered a further survivor on a life-raft at 02.18, local time. Two patrol vessels continued to search the area, but have so far failed to find the missing men.

7 September 1998 - Northern Bangladesh

A boat evacuating 125 flood victims sank in gushing river waters in northern Bangladesh and most of the occupants were feared drowned police said, according a press report from Dhaka. Only 12 people have so far been rescued by local fishermen in the rain-fed Sanjana River in Laimonirhat district, 225km north of Dhaka, a police officer said. Rescuers from the police and fire brigade were searching for the missing people. In another accident, five men riding a boat through a flooded street died after live electricity wire snapped and fell on them in Dhaka's southern Islambagh district.

8 September 1998 - Floods in Bangladesh claimed another 20 lives after a rescue boat capsized yesterday in the swollen Padma river, raising the flood death toll to 750, police said today. The river was flowing 80 cm above danger levels.

8 October 1998 - Banyoles, Spain

Some victims of pleasure vessel La Oca (initially reported as the Anna) were trapped inside when the vessel, with 141 people on board, nearly twice the number it was authorised to carry, went down near its dock in Lake Banyoles. Dozens of passengers leaped overboard as the 15m-long vessel started taking on water. Some swam to safety but others drowned before making it to shore. Twenty French pensioner passengers were confirmed dead and 44 were injured. Officials said two people may still be missing but that everyone else had been accounted for. The victims all belonged to a French tour group who were visiting Spain's Girona province. Xavier Pomes, a spokesman for the Catalonia regional government, said the concession granted to the vessel's owners permitted the electric-powered vessel to carry only 80 passengers at a time on tours of the lake. Officials said it was not clear whether the boat could safely carry more than the licensed number of passengers. Witnesses said the vessel was about 25m from shore when it started sinking soon after leaving the dock for a two-hour tour. Rescue crews rushed to the scene to pick up survivors, and scuba divers scoured the lake bottom. The stern of the vessel took on water first. The vessel tried to go back to the dock but there wasn't enough time, one witness said. A crane was brought in and preparations were made to lift the vessel from the lake bottom. The vessel went into operation during the summer and made regular tours of Lake Banyoles.

9 October 1998 - Salvage teams today began working to re-float a pleasure vessel which sank on a lake in north-eastern Spain, killing 20 French pensioners. Officials said a closer inspection of the 15m-long vessel could support their main theory that an overload of passengers was to blame for the accident on Lake Banyoles yesterday. The battery-powered catamaran named La Oca, was carrying 141 people though she was licensed to take no more than 80 at a time on tours of the scenic lake in Girona province. However, authorities had not ruled out the possibility that a leak in the hull sent the vessel to the bottom as she was pulling away from her dock. Michelle Demessine, France's secretary of state for tourism, toured the scene of the accident today and said that the repatriation of survivors would begin later in the day on a government-chartered passenger aircraft. The owner of the boat, a private company called La Carpa de L'Estany, was to be questioned today by a judge in the nearby city of Girona, state radio reported. Some passengers died trapped inside the sinking vessel, while others drowned after leaping overboard. The final official toll was 20 dead and 38 hurt. Twenty of the injured remained in local hospitals today.

9 October 1998 - Salvage teams worked today to refloat catamaran La Oca, owned by a private company called La Carpa L'Estany. A judge questioned the owner and captain of the vessel for two hours, but did not detain them, state radio reported. A decision on whether to file charges was delayed until completion of an official investigation. Salvage workers using special flotation devices and a large crane managed to raise the vessel's upper deck above water in the afternoon.

10 October 1998 - Police divers re-floated catamaran La Oca yesterday and initial investigations showed the boat had no leaks. Fire chiefs speculated that water may have seeped through into the vessel after air ventilation tubes became immersed due to overloading. Authorities were still unable to account for two people they believe may have gone on the excursion. So far, only 139 of the 141 people believed to have been on board have been located. Two owners of the boat, including the pilot, gave secret testimony yesterday before an investigative judge, who released them without filing charges. The court said the investigation would continue.

16 October 1998 - off Danish Coast

Mv Aster (1,821gt, built 1972) began listing in heavy weather off the western Danish coast and requested pump early today. Of the 11 crew, five have been safely rescued and three bodies found, while the other three remain missing. One search and rescue helicopter and three rescue vessels are on scene continuing the search.

16 October 1998 -A total of 5 survivors from the vessel, which went down at 04.55 (0255, UTC), were rescued and helicopters and rescue vessels were searching for the missing, duty commander Anders Moeller said. The weather was favourable for search and rescue operations with clear skies and abating winds, he said. Rescue operations began after Aster sent a distress signal at 03.47 (0147, UTC) and the first survivor was taken aboard one of the rescue vessels an hour later, Moeller said. Aster, which the Ritzau news agency said was carrying phosphor, was heading away from Denmark when it sank about three miles off Denmark's western coast. The cause of the disaster was not immediately known, Moeller said. "The search has ended. We have not found anybody else," the duty officer at the Danish Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre said. A helicopter and rescue vessels had searched until early afternoon for survivors in the area three to five nautical miles off the Danish west coast where the ship sank in heavy seas with south-westerly winds of 12-14m per second. "The cargo shifted due to the rough weather and the ship started to leak and capsized quite quickly," the duty officer said. Rescue operations began after Aster sent a distress signal at 03.47 (01.47 GMT) and the first survivor was taken on board one of the rescue vessels an hour later.

23 October 1998 - Bangkok, Thailand

A press report from Bangkok states: A rainstorm and rough seas prevented efforts yesterday to find nine people still missing from ferry Saendee Maneesap 9, which capsized off Surat Thani on Wednesday (21 October). The search would continue, but it was feared the nine were trapped in the vessel, which sank in a storm 5.4km west of Koh Wao Yai in the Ang Thong national marine park. The vessel would be raised to establish what caused the capsize, in which three people, two of them foreigners, drowned and 18 were rescued. A crew member reportedly said the vessel was laden with 60 sacks of cement weighing about three tons, other construction materials and rice. The helmsman may have lacked experience since he put out in rough weather after a storm warning, which had been heeded by local trawler crews. A committee would investigate the causes and its findings would report back in three days. Bad weather foiled attempts by Thai and foreign divers from Koh Samui and Phangna to get to the wreck, lying at a depth of 18-20m. The rough conditions also prevented 350 volunteers and authorities, including sailors, marine police and tourist police, from setting off from Koh Samui with two army speedboats, three marine police patrol boats and 30 trawlers. Army and police helicopter crews who planned to join the search could not take off from their bases, due to the heavy rain. Chiewchan Kengehong, who was at the helm, had no navigation licence and had been charged with recklessness causing death and danger to others. The vessel's insurers are to pay 50,000 baht to the family of each of the dead and not more than 10,000 baht to the injured.

26 October 1998 - Four more bodies from last week's ferry accident near Wao Yai Island were recovered yesterday, raising the death toll to 15. Four other people were still reported missing. Three bodies were plucked from the sea near the island by navy and marine police patrolling the area while the fourth was washed ashore and was found on Phangna beach, some 40km from where ferry Saendee Maneesap 9 sank in stormy seas last Wednesday (21 October). Only one body was identified. The other three were believed to be Burmese crewmen. Governor Puchong Rungroj and Samui district police chief Pol Col Kreerin lnkaew flew in a helicopter for an aerial search and rescue mission yesterday and located the sunken vessel. Following radio contacts, eight fishing vessels went to the area with a 300m-long iron sling to tow the wreckage. Preparations were made for divers to also jump from a helicopter to search for more bodies but the mission was abandoned because of strong winds and big waves.

30 October 1998 - Officials called off the search for victims of the Koh Tao ferry accident yesterday. At least 18 people died when ferry Saendee Maneesap 9 capsized near Koh Wao Yai in the early hours of last Wednesday (21 October). Only Anuwat Chaiyaphum and a crew member identified as Nui are still missing. It was possible Mr Anuwat and the crew member were not trapped inside the wreck, officials said. Officials said the wreck of Saendee Maneesap 9 would not be recovered. According to background checks, the ferry had changed its name three times from Phanthanuthong to Arunpan to the current name. The vessel had been in service for more than 20 years and had at least two accidents. Meanwhile, a senior Harbour Department official dismissed speculation overloading caused the ferry to capsize. Sub-Lt Preecha Phetwong, director of the Waterways Transport Inspection Division, said the load of construction materials estimated to weigh three or four tons was not enough to upset the vessel which had a capacity of more than 70 tons. Other factors which could contribute to the capsize included the seaworthiness of the vessel, weather and the helmsman. Sub-Lt Preecha said he inspected the 24 metre vessel last year and found her and all safety and navigation equipment in good condition. The Saendee Maneesap 9 was originally registered with a capacity to carry 150 passengers, later reduced to 40 passengers for tax and insurance purposes because of decreasing demand. The number of passengers and the load of goods at the time of accident were far below the capacity. Sub-Lt Preecha said he was confounded as to the cause of the accident. An investigation to determine the cause should be concluded by next week.

8 November 1998 - Off coast of Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa

South African sea rescue workers have called off a search for 15 seamen who went missing when trawler Daniella (length 28m) sank some 20km off the east coast of the country, state radio reported today. "Although they are still searching the beach area and are receiving reports about crates washing onto the shore, the search is more or less over," the radio quoted a rescue official as saying. An air and sea rescue was launched yesterday after the vessel sank off the coast of KwaZulu-Natal. Local newspapers reported that her skipper, Stamatis Stogiannos, was washed ashore yesterday afternoon after spending 36 hours in the water and was taken to hospital suffering from hypothermia. The vessel is believed to have been on her way from Maputo to Durban.

12 November 1998 - Estonia ) London, UK

Pressure has grown for new investigations into the tragedy involving m passenger ro-ro ferry Estonia in September 1994, on the eve of a report that will contain key recommendations to Swedish prime minister Goran Persson. A group representing families of many of the victims fears there may have been a cover-up of the real cause of the accident. It is calling for an effort to focus on whether the ferry was the victim of sabotage as a prime cause, ahead of alleged seaworthiness. The call stems from a theory that Russian intelligence agents tried to disable the vessel because she was carrying secret military equipment meant to be smuggled from Estonia to NATO countries. Stockholm lawyer Henning Witte, representing 944 friends and relatives of those who died, said the three-country commission that examined the 1994 disaster has been strongly criticised and the new inquiry could show itself trustworthy if it recommended a salvage operation. He said all the families wanted a fresh examination of the vessel's hull, because a crucial selection of starboard side photos was missing from the official record which has been made by a remotely-operated vehicle camera. This could identify whether there was a hole in the hull, conceivably the result of an attempt by Russian agents to disable the vessel so she would be forced to return to Tallinn for repairs.

23 November 1998 - Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh

Nearly 200 fishermen were missing in the Bay of Bengal after an 80km per hour storm swept Bangladesh's south coast and offshore islands, fishing community leaders said today. "Fifteen trawlers with about 200 crew onboard have yet to return," said Kabir Ahmed, a leader of a fishing boat owners association in the town of Cox's Bazar. The storm whipped past Bangladesh's coast near Mongla port yesterday evening, causing no deaths and only little damage to crops, government officials said this morning. "Virtually it (storm) left us intact," one official at Mongla said. "Some 100,000 people evacuated from the storm's path have also left their shelters," he said. Handling of cargo at the Mongla and Chittagong ports resumed fully this morning, port officials said. "We are expecting the missing fishermen to return alive. Sometimes people come back even weeks after a storm," Ahmed said. Much of the country, including the capital Dhaka, has been experiencing moderate to heavy rainfall since Sunday in the wake of the storm, weather officials said.

7 December 1998 - Dhaka, Bangladesh

At least 15 people drowned and scores were missing after a ferry carrying about 200 passengers capsized near Dhaka today, police said. They said the ferry capsized as it was about to touch a pier on the Buriganga river at Gudaraghat, a few miles from Dhaka. "As the people in the overcrowded ferry were rushing to disembark, the vessel listed on one side and went down," one police officer said. He said 15 bodies had been retrieved and that a search was continuing for the missing.

28 December 1998 - Kamchatka River, Russia

Rescue workers found one body and were still searching for eight people missing today after a barge sank at the mouth of the Kamchatka River in Russia's Far East, a spokesman for the Federal Border Guard service said. Two survivors were found shortly after the accident but there was now little hope for those still lost in the icy waters. The barge, carrying supplies to remote border guard outposts, appeared to capsize and sink after hitting a shoal. Bad weather was hampering the rescue.