Marine

Citation

(2007), "Marine", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 16 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2007.07316eac.001

Marine

16 February 2006Al Salam Boccaccio 98 (Panama)

Egyptian officials say salvage experts have located the wreck of passenger ro/ro Al Salam Boccaccio 98 which sank in the Red Sea almost two weeks ago killing about 1,000 people. Transport Minister Mohamed Loutfi Mansour said the Al Salam Boccaccio 98 was found in 800 m (2,600 ft) of water, 90 km (56 miles) from Egypt’s port of Safaga. He said experts will lower a robotic submersible to take pictures and search for the vessel’s voyage data recorder. Only 388 out of more than 1,400 people on board survived the disaster. Ships carry a voyage data recorder, similar to a aircraft’s black box, to record information about the vessel’s location, direction of travel and weather conditions. Mr Mansour said the Egyptian authorities were now working with international salvage experts to try to recover the device from the Al Salam Boccaccio 98, which was operated by El Salam Maritime. When they launch the salvage mission at the weekend they will also photograph the wreckage in an effort to establish why the vessel sank. It is believed that the 35-year-old vessel, which was sailing in bad weather, ran into trouble when a fire broke out below decks. The accident has prompted accusations of negligence, with the crew accused of ignoring warnings to evacuate after the fire took hold and the vessel began to list. The anger of relatives has increased because of a lack of information about their loved ones, most of whom were Egyptians working in Saudi Arabia.

21 February 2006

Detailed inspections of the El Salam Maritime Transport fleet will begin this week as the international maritime community seeks to uncover the causes of the loss of more than 1,000 lives on board passenger ro/ro Al Salam Boccaccio 98 earlier this month. The inspections, to be carried out by Tom Allan, the former chairman of the International Maritime Organisation’s Marine Safety Committee, are designed to eliminate the prospect of a repeat of the tragic events of February 3 and shed light on any structural causes that may have contributed to the accident. Panama, the flag state for the 1970-built ro/ro, will also participate in the inspection of three other vessels. The Al Salam Carducci 92, the Al Salam Manzoni 94, and the Al Salam Pascoli 96, all owned by El Salam Maritime Transport, the operator of the ill-fated ferry, will be the first vessels to be inspected, said Alfonso Castillero, PMA’s deputy director of the merchant marine department. “The first part, of course, is that they have to do a revaluation of all the ships in this area and especially the sister-ships”, said Mr Castillero. “This signifies a physical inspection but it also includes an evaluation of the operation and the reactions of the crew. The human factor, as history has shown, is very important”. Details of the possible role played by the vessel’s crew in the disaster should become clearer this week with the recovery of the voyage data recorder. The black box was located last Wednesday (February 15) and preparations are being made to recover the unit later this week. It is hoped recordings on the bridge will shed some light into why a decision was taken to continue sailing to Egypt while the crew were fighting a fire in one of the lower decks. The IMO has offered its support to the Egyptian authorities and sent Mike Travis from the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch and Jean-Charles Leclaire from the French marine investigation department to assist in the investigation. Mr Travis has special expertise in the interpretation of VDRs while Mr Leclaire participated in the inquiry into the loss of the Senegalese ferry Joola in 2002. Panama’s second vice-president and head of the PMA, Ruben Arosemena, is also scheduled to visit Egypt at the end of the month. “I am going to meet the minister of transport to observe the advances in the process, refine the participation of Panama, support the authorities in Egypt and express our condolences for the loss of so many citizens”, he said. He said that Panama was disposed “to collaborate at the highest levels in this investigation”. Mr Castillero said he hoped that the investigation would help the maritime community “to avoid any other events like this in the future”. Findings from the forthcoming inspections, he said, would be presented to the IMO. El Salam Maritime has a fleet of 15 vessels, all of which will be inspected as part of a broader investigation of ferries operating in the region. RINA, the class society of the Al Salam Boccaccio 98, has also offered its full co-operation with the investigation.

21 February 2006

French and British experts working for the International Maritime Organisation today recovered the black box from passenger ro/ro Al Salam Boccaccio 98, which sank in the Red Sea this month with the loss of more than 1,000 people. Transport Minister Mohamed Lutfi Mansour told the state news agency MENA the experts had brought the Voyage Data Recorder up from the vessel and would send it to Britain for analysis. The recorder, which stores details such as the position of the vessel, direction of travel and weather conditions, might throw light on why the vessel sank. Al Salam Boccaccio 98 was on a voyage between Duba and Safaga when it sank on the night of February 2-3. Out of the 1,414 people on board, only 388 people survived. Witnesses and surviving officers said a fire broke out on the car deck shortly after the vessel left Duba. However, they have not explained why the vessel continued to sail out into the Red Sea for several hours after the fire started and why the crew evacuated so few of the passengers. The disaster provoked widespread criticism of the shipping company and of the government, which was accused of reacting too slowly and of laxity in enforcing safety regulations.

9 March 2006

A preliminary report into last month’s Egyptian ferry disaster that killed about 1,000 people will be published in around two months, the official in charge of the investigation said yesterday. The final report will not be ready for a further two months after that, Mohammed Abdel-Fattah Shama added. “It’s too soon to announce results or deductions”, he told a press conference in Cairo. The voyage data recorder from passenger ro/ro Al Salam Boccaccio 98 was recovered last month by a robot vehicle about half a mile down on the sea floor. The recorder’s contents are now being analysed in Britain. Al Salam Boccaccio 98 was said to be carrying 1,400 people when it sank on Febraury 3, after a fire broke out while it was en route from Saudi Arabia to Safaga in Egypt.

18 March 2006

Egyptian authorities have agreed to lift immunity from the owner of passenger ro/ro Al Salam Boccaccio 98, which sank in the Red Sea last month drowning more than 1,000 passengers. Ferry owner Mamdouh Ismail is a member of the Shura Council, or upper chamber of Egypt’s parliament, whose members are usually immune from investigation. The council’s committee for constitutional and legislative affairs agreed to lift Ismail’s immunity today, after a request from the justice minister. Experts examining how the ferry sank will submit their findings to prosecutors in about four months. The ship’s black box, or data recorder, is being studied in Britain and a preliminary report on the disaster is expected in about two months.

31 March 2006

Egypt’s tragic loss of the passenger ro/ro Al Salam Boccaccio 98 could trigger claims totalling hundreds of millions of dollars, according to a leading marine insurance broker, although others in the insurance market expect a more manageable outcome. A protection and indemnity claim may reach beyond $200m, according to Mark Cracknell, of Benfield Corporate Risk, but the size of the demand will depend on whether the 1990 protocol to the Athens Convention, which increased the compensation per passenger to SDR175,000 ($224,000), applies to Egypt. The protocol has been held up internationally because of insufficient ratifications, and if an interpretation that it has not been incorporated into Egyptian domestic law is confirmed, it will not be the relevant compensation regime. If that is the case, the P&I contribution could be much less than the upper figure speculated. Mr Cracknell pointed out in his company’s publication, Corporate Risk, that under the pooling system of the International Group of P&I Clubs, insurer Steamship Mutual would pay the first $6m of ferry liability claims. As the pool bears the next $50m with each club contributing broadly according to its business volume, Steamship might have to provide a further sum. Beyond the pooling layer, group reinsurance would pick up claims. “The February 2006 renewal of the market reinsurance has just been concluded at what was reported to be an 11 per cent cash increase”, Mr Cracknell said. “This loss may not augur well for the 2007 renewal”. Separately, the Egyptian government has offered $5,000 to each family of the 1,000 victims.

5 April 2006

The Egyptian government laid more blame on Wednesday on the captain of the ferry which sank in the Red Sea in February with the loss of more than 1,000 lives. A cabinet statement said analysis of the recording of the conversation on the bridge of passenger ro/ro Al Salam Boccaccio 98 showed the captain did not take any of the important safety measures. It said the captain did not send a distress signal, did not report his problems to either the port of departure or the port of arrival, did not try to return to port when fire broke out and did not order the crew or passengers to use rescue systems. A fire broke out on the car deck about one hour out of the Saudi port of Daba en route for Safaga on the Egyptian side of the Red Sea. But the ship continued to sail out to sea for several hours before it finally capsized and sank. Survivors said at the time that crew members told them not to worry about the fire and prevented them putting on life jackets. They also accused the captain, Sayed Omar, of abandoning the ship, but Omar is missing presumed drowned. Much of the public anger at the disaster has been directed at the Cairo-based shipping company, which is owned by Mamdouh Ismail, a member of the upper house of parliament. The cabinet statement said the investigation was not yet complete and copies of the contents of the voice recorder have gone to the public prosecutor and a committee of inquiry.

7 April 2006

Egypt has blamed the master of passenger ro/ro Al Salam Boccaccio 98, the Red Sea ferry which sank in February with the loss of more than 1,000 lives, for the casualty. A cabinet statement on Wednesday claimed that analysis of recordings of the conversation on the bridge showed that key safety measures were not carried out. The master allegedly did not send a distress signal, did not report the problems to either the port of departure or the port of arrival, did not try to return to port when fire broke out, and did not order the crew or passengers to use rescue systems. Fire broke out on the car deck about one hour out of the Saudi port of Daba while the ro/ro was on route for Safaga on the Egyptian side of the Red Sea. But the ship continued to sail for several hours before it finally capsized and sank. Survivors said at the time that crew members told them not to worry about the fire and prevented them putting on life jackets. They also accused the master, Captain Sayed Omar, of abandoning the ship. Captain Omar is missing, presumed drowned. Much of the public anger at the disaster has been directed at the Cairo-based shipping company, which is owned by Mamdouh Ismail, a member of the upper house of parliament. The cabinet statement said the investigation was not yet complete, and copies of the contents of the voice recorder have gone to the public prosecutor and a committee of inquiry.

Egyptian human rights activists have slammed compensation offered to survivors and families of Al Salam Boccaccio 98 victims as inadequate. According to local media reports, the owner has promised the families of victims $26,170 each and survivors $2,617 each. Lawyers acting on their behalf maintain that the size of the payments do not take into account individual needs of families or cover losses caused by the deaths of migrant workers. But activists have commended recent government promises of additional financial assistance. Following a presidential decree, victims’ families will be given $6,316 each, while survivors will receive $3,158 each.

17 February 2006Heng Da 1 (Panama)

Thirty-seven Chinese sailors were missing today after their cargo ship (ref Heng Da 1, 2,188 gt, built 2003) sank off Southeast China, Xinhua news agency said. A search and rescue operation had been launched after yesterday’s accident but the chance of finding survivors was slim, Xinhua said. The ship, fully loaded with “aquatic products” and headed for Indonesia, struck a reef near coastal Fujian province’s Dongjia island at around 2300 hrs yesterday, Xinhua said.

17 February 2006

No survivors have been found from ref Heng Da 1, which sank in rough seas off Eastern China with 37 people on board, a rescue official said today. Helicopters and ships were searching near the position about five kilometres from Pingtan Island in Fujian Province where the freighter went down after smashing against the rocky coast late yesterday, an official with the provincial maritime rescue centre said. “They’re looking and looking but haven’t found anything”, said the man. The official said the ship was carrying a cargo of seafood to Indonesia. Harsh weather continued in the area today.

19 February 2006

Ref Heng Da 1. More rescuers have been sent to search for 31 sailors who remained missing after a Panamanian freighter ran on rocks on February 16 off East China’s Fujian Province. The freighter had a total crew of 37, all whom were Chinese. So far two have been rescued, the remains of four dead recovered, and 31 others remain missing, the local salvage source said. The East China Sea Salvage Bureau under the Ministry of Communications dispatched a 14-member rescue team including ten divers and engineers today to join the rescue operations in the sea area off Dongjia Island of Fujian Province. Currently, five ships are searching for the missing sailors in the waters around the accident site in the East China Sea.

20 February 2006

Panama is sending an investigator to China to look into the fatal sinking of ref Heng Da 1, the government said on Saturday (February 18). The Panamanian agent will work with Chinese authorities to investigate the sinking of the vessel, which went down after it hit a coral reef off China’s Southeastern coast on Friday, Panama’s Maritime Authority said in a news release. On Saturday, rescuers in China’s Fujian Province found two survivors and four bodies. Thirty-one of those on board the vessel were still missing.

Chinese rescuers today found two more bodies from sunken ref Heng Da 1. The search for the other 29 missing sailors is still going on with five vessels and one helicopter involved.

21 February 2006

The bodies of two more dead sailors were recovered yesterday afternoon from the East China Sea where ref Heng Da 1 ran into the rocks and sank late Thursday (February 16) night. Another 29 crew members are still missing. Two sailors were pulled from the sea alive and five others died on Friday several hours after the ship hit rocks in heavy waves and quickly sank. A team of 14 rescue workers including ten divers and ship engineers from the Shanghai-based Donghai Rescue Bureau, as well as helicopters and rescue vessels, had been searching the sea near Fujian Province over the past four days. Rescuers finally managed to spot the ship yesterday afternoon when low tides left part of the mast exposed. “We were sorry to find that it was very likely the front mast, which means the vessel sank on its rear. The result could be most of the crew didn’t have time to escape and were kept inside the working cabins that are usually in the rear of a ship”, said Tang Panrun, an official with the rescue operation.

22 February 2006

Searchers have discovered, this morning, the stern of ref Heng Da 1, which sank last week, according to the East China Sea Salvage Bureau under the Ministry of Communications. Two sailors were rescued and nine bodies have been found so far among the 37-member crew of Heng Da 1. The remaining 26 people are still missing and their survival chances are slim, said rescuers. Divers found the ship’s stern at 1045 hrs with the help of five rescue ships and one helicopter. Rescuers said that some of the missing sailors might be in the cabin at the stern. The rescue operation has been extended to a wider area of sea, including areas near local islands, as it entered a sixth day today, local salvage department sources said. Rescue work is still going on, though strong wind and high waves have hampered the operation.

23 February 2006

A total of 67 vessels and 2,377 people are searching for the 31 Chinese sailors who went missing after a Panamanian ref Heng Da 1 ran aground in the sea area off East China’s Fujian Province last week. The rescue operation has been extended to a wider area of sea, including areas near local islands and polders. The accident occurred when the Heng Da 1 hit a reef. All 37 Chinese crew members fell overboard. So far only two of the crew members have been saved and the bodies of four victims recovered. The 31 others are still missing. The East China Sea Salvage Bureau under the Ministry of Communications dispatched a 14-member rescue team, including ten divers and engineers, to join the rescue efforts. Strong winds and high waves have hampered the rescue operation.

27 February 2006Express Samina (Greece)

Seven crew members and company officials were today sentenced to up to 19 years in prison for their roles in a ferry disaster that killed 80 people near the holiday island of Paros. A court found the master and first officer of passenger ro/ro Express Samina guilty of manslaughter and other criminal offences. Five other defendants, including two ferry company officials, received lighter sentences. The disaster in September, 2000, shook public confidence in Greece’s coastal ferry industry and prompted a safety crackdown. The defendants had faced a maximum penalty of life imprisonment for their roles in the disaster in which the vessel hit rocks in the Aegean Sea outside Paros’s main port.

20 March 2006Korea Gas (South Korea)

Lpg Korea Gas (3,986 gt, built 1986) was struck by general cargo Xin Hai 7 (2,972 gt, built 2005), Qingdao for Incheon with steel products, at about 0405, March 20, while Korea Gas was lying anchored some three miles south of Palmi-do, Incheon. Xin Hai 7 sank soon after the collision and Korea Gas sustained very minor damage to its bow area. Five of the 17 crew members on board Xin Hai 7 were safely rescued, three were found dead and the remaining nine crew are missing. Coast guard officials say the collision took place a few kilometers west of Incheon. They say the Xin Hai 7 sank after it slammed into Korea Gas. Five Chinese crew members were rescued by a nearby vessel. South Korean authorities are searching by boat and helicopter for the nine missing Chinese. There were no serious injuries to the crew of Korea Gas, which was slightly damaged.

21 March 2006

The nine missing crew members of general cargo Xin Hai 7 have not yet been located. No plan to salvage the vessel has been formulated as yet. Lpg Korea Gas sailed Incheon at 0700, March 21, for Yosu.

21 March 2006

Nine missing sailors from general cargo Xin Hai 7 which sank following a collision with Lpg Korea Gas at Incheon had still not been found as of this morning, said the Chinese Ministry of Communications. The vessels collided at 0405 hrs yesterday, and all 17 crew members of Xin Hai 7 fell into the water. Three have been confirmed dead and five were rescued. South Korean maritime police sent 45 vessels, one helicopter and four divers to conduct the ongoing search and rescue operation. The Chinese Consul General to South Korea is at the scene to help deal with the accident. The five sailors who were rescued are in a stable condition. According to the China Maritime Rescue Centre, Xin Hai 7 was chartered by Xinbei International Shipping Corp. (HK). The company has set up a special leadership group to deal with the accident. It said that the sailors, who mainly come from North China’s Hebei Province and East China’s Jiangsu Province, had personal accident insurance of US$25,000.

20 March 2006Zim Asia (Israel)

An Israeli shipping company today denied in court that c.c. Zim Asia fled after a fatal collision with fishing Shinsei Maru No. 3 off Hokkaido last September, but said it intends to seek a settlement with the next of kin who are suing the firm. In the suit’s first oral proceedings before the Kushiro District Court, the defence team of Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd said the crewmen on board Zim Asia had been “unaware of the collision” and therefore denied it was a hit-and-run. The defence also argued in court that the plaintiffs’ claim that negligence had solely occurred on the part of Zim Asia “lacked objectivity”. However, at a news conference, the company’s representative expressed a willingness to settle, saying, “As the trial is likely to be prolonged, we would like to seek a settlement soon once all the evidence is presented”. The relatives of the seven crewmen killed when Shinsei Maru No. 3 capsized are seeking a combined ¥900 million. The vessels collided off Nemuro in the early hours of September 28. Only one crewman on Shinsei Maru No. 3 survived the collision. The plaintiffs claim Shinsei Maru No. 3 had safely cleared the bow of Zim Asia, but the two vessels collided because the container vessel suddenly altered course to starboard to avoid another vessel. They said Zim Asia left the scene without attempting to rescue the fishermen or alert authorities. The surviving crewman, Kaname Fujisato, and the owner of Shinsei Maru No. 3 joined 24 relatives of the dead in filing the suit. The Japan Coast Guard believes Shinsei Maru No. 3 also bore a responsibility to prevent the collision and has turned over to prosecutors their case of professional negligence against the vessel’s boatswain, who was among the dead. Israeli prosecutors have indicted two sailors who were on watch at the time, and an accident report compiled by the Israeli transport ministry has pointed out flaws in Zim’s operational regulations.

24 March 2006Andrew J. Barberi (USA)

New York city has agreed to pay nearly $9 million to settle a lawsuit brought by a former waiter and avid hiker who lost his legs in a 2003 ferry crash, lawyers said today. The payout for Paul Esposito was by far the largest so far in the tragedy that killed 11 passengers and injured dozens of others. Ninety-nine of the 190 claims against the city have been settled for a total of $3.6 million, city officials said. Esposito’s attorney, Derek Sells, said the settlement was fair, given that his client’s injuries “forever altered the way he can live his life”. In a statement, one of the city’s top attorneys, Lawrence Kahn, confirmed that the city agreed to pay $8,986,852. Esposito was scheduled to receive monthly payments for the next 50 years to cover medical costs and living expenses. With interest, he could collect an estimated $25.6 million during that period, Sells said. Esposito had sued for $300 million in damages in 2003, alleging that the crew of the Andrew J. Barberi and city officials “basically left him to die” after the ferry drifted off course and slammed full-speed into a concrete pier on Staten Island on October 15, 2003. As he lay immobilized and bleeding profusely, the crew and city employees did not assist him, he alleged.

31 March 2006Al-Dana

At least 48 people died and another 27 were injured when a tourist dhow (Al-Dana) sank off the coast of Muharraq last night. The vessel was overloaded and its Indian master had initially refused to put to sea, owner Isa Al Qobaisi said. Officials said most of the dead were Asians, but GCC nationals and Europeans were also understood to have died when the boat overturned around 1 km from the Shaikh Khalifa Causeway, which links Mina Salman and Muharraq. Rescue teams managed to pull at least 63 people alive from the water, including the only three Bahrainis who were on board, they said. However, it is thought that around 130 people were on the vessel and the Coast Guard, Bahrain Royal Navy, Bahrain Royal Air Force and US Navy were still looking for more survivors this morning. The trip was organised by Nass, Murray and Roberts to celebrate the completion of the concrete structure of the Bahrain World Trade Centre towers. An investigation is also under way and Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa pledged full support to those affected by the tragedy. The Premier was at the site supervising rescue operations and later visited the hospital to meet the injured. “All relevant government bodies will provide immediate help and take all necessary steps to help those who have suffered from this trauma”, he said. Mr Al Qobaisi said his company chartered the boat out to Island Tours for the evening. The boat had a capacity for 100 passengers, but there were around 130 on board, he said. When the master saw how many people were boarding and how much stock was being taken on board for the party, he did not want to put out, but organisers insisted, Mr Al Qobaisi added. The boat departed from the Marina Club. No children were onboard but there were several women – one of whom was pregnant. The Coast Guard was first alerted to the tragedy at around 2145 hrs when it received a call from the mobile phone of one of the passengers, Interior Ministry spokesman Colonel Tariq Al Hassan told a Press conference at 0100 hrs today. A patrol arrived at the scene five minutes later. “The chartered boat left the Marina Club and headed south to the Dry Dock”, said Coast Guard director Colonel Yousif Al Ghatam. “Suddenly it flipped. The cause is being investigated – there is nothing solid yet”. “All of the people who died except one were below deck when it overturned”. “The boat is ten years old and is used by tourists”. “Those onboard were of different nationalities”. “An investigation committee has been formed by the Interior Minister to look into the circumstances surrounding the sinking of the ship”, said Interior Ministry public relations and information director Major Mohammed bin Daiyna at the press conference, which took place at Coast Guard headquarters, Muharraq.

31 March 2006

Cruise boat Al-Dana carrying up to 150 people capsized last night off the coast of Bahrain, killing at least 57 people including some Britons. Interior Ministry spokesman Colonel Tarik al-Hassan told Al-Jazeera television that 67 people were rescued. Al-Hassan said not all the identities of the 57 dead were known as many of them did not carry identification papers. He said the exact number of passengers was not known because some left the boat before it sailed. The official Bahrain News Agency said the boat was on an evening cruise that was to last several hours. It overturned less than a mile off the coast, it added. Television footage showed the Al-Dana capsized but not sunk, with rescue workers walking on its brown hull. US helicopters and divers joined the rescue and recovery operation launched by Bahrain’s Coast Guard. There was no indication of what caused the boat to capsize in what appeared to be perfect weather conditions in the area. The boat’s owners, according to Bahrain television, said overloading could have caused the boat to capsize. Al-Katem, the coastguard chief, said an investigation was under way. The passengers were thought to be a mix of Bahrainis, nationals of other Gulf Arab nations and Westerners. Health Minister Nada Haffadh told al-Arabiya television that survivors who arrived at hospitals included nationals of India, South Africa, Singapore and Britain. She later told Bahrain television that a total of 24 people were in hospital and that other survivors were released on arriving at the shore. Information Minister Mohammed Abdul-Ghafar, interviewed on al-Arabiya, said the passengers included 25 Britons, 20 Filipinos, ten South Africans and ten Egyptians. Sheikh Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, the Interior Minister, said most of the boat’s passengers were employees of a Bahrain-based company. Al-Katem, the coastguard chief, said there were 150 guests at a dinner party on board Al-Dana. The guests, he said, ate their dinner while the boat was still docked and that up to 20 of them disembarked before it sailed. A US Navy spokesman in Bahrain said American helicopters and divers were heading to the site. “We’re sending divers, small boats and a helicopter right now”, Commander Jeff Breslau said. A British Embassy official said he could not confirm the number of dead as details about passenger numbers were unconfirmed and identifying the victims was a problem. He said: “It was a party and quite a few of those on board were not carrying identification. There wasn’t a definitive list of souls on board and we’re not in a position to say how many British nationals were involved but there are some who have died”.

31 March 2006

Ten employees of construction group Murray & Roberts, four of them South Africans, were killed when a ferry (tourist dhow Al-Dana) capsized and sank off the coast of Bahrain yesterday evening. The company was holding a function on the ferry to celebrate the completion of the Trade Centre structure in Bahrain when the accident occurred. So far, a total of 57 people have been confirmed dead in the tragedy. In addition to the M&R employees who died, a staff member of one of the workers also died in the tragedy. Of the ten who died, four were South African citizens, three were British, two Indian and one Pakistani. About 120 people, excluding crew, were estimated to be on the ferry at the time of the tragedy, of which 25 were M&R employees. The rest were from the joint venture partner Nass as well as contractors and people associated with the construction of the World Trade Centre in the Middle Eastern country.

1 April 2006

At least 57 people, mostly foreigners, drowned when their dinner cruise boat Al-Dana capsized off the coast of Bahrain, officials said today. Authorities detained the boat’s captain, saying he was unqualified and that the traditional wooden dhow had been overloaded with passengers, who were on board for a corporate party in the Gulf. The twin-decked boat went down yesterday. By daylight, only the upturned hull was visible, with empty orange life-jackets bobbing alongside. Officials said the latest count showed that just two passengers were still missing and Bahrain television showed pictures of rescue workers using pickaxes to try to break through the bottom of the vessel. “The captain was only a sailor and not qualified to operate the ship. The prosecutor’s office has detained him and his assistant”, prosecutor Nawaf Hamza told a news conference. “Initially charges against him are linked to his responsibility [for the accident]”, Hamza said, adding that the ship was carrying more passengers than its capacity. The boat’s owner, quoted earlier by Al Arabiya television, said the top-heavy vessel capsized when passengers gathered on one side. The dead were identified as being 21 Indians, 13 Britons, five South Africans, five Filipinos, four Singaporeans, four Pakistanis, two Thais, a German, an Irish citizen and a South Korean, Interior Ministry spokesman Colonel Tareq al-Hassan told reporters. “With the current condition of the sea and water temperature we would expect the body of anyone drowned to float”, Hassan said, adding that the search continued. Rescuers pulled 67 terrified survivors from the water as the rescue operation went through the night, helped by the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, which is based in the pro-Western Gulf Arab state. More than 30 people were taken to hospital, many shivering and wrapped in blankets. Aqeel Mirza said he was about 100 m away on a nearby boat when he saw the ship capsize. “The sea was calm, there were no heavy winds or waves”, he told Arabiya. “Suddenly, in that instant that we were watching it, the boat overturned very quickly. It just overturned on one side in seconds and two seconds later the lights went out and then we started hearing the screaming”. Mirza added it took more than 25 minutes for rescue boats to arrive at the scene. “Most of those who died were inside the enclosed restaurant. Those who were on the top deck found it easier to survive because they jumped off the boat and waited for rescue”, he said. Officials said 126 people were believed to have been on board when the boat capsized. Tourism sources said the vessel had a capacity of 100. The boat trip was for employees of companies involved in a major construction project in Bahrain and their families. South African construction firm Murray & Roberts, the leading firm in the project, said that excluding crew, around 120 people were on the dhow, employees of the firm, its partner Nass and subcontractors, and their families. US and Bahraini officials said there was no indication that the sinking was the result of an attack. “Up to this moment, it appears totally unlikely”, Information Minister Mohammed Abdul-Ghaffar Abdullah said. Bahraini Health Ministry official Nabeel al-Ansari said that most of those hospitalised had already been discharged. “Initially 33 were brought by rescue teams; 31 were discharged and two have been admitted, both Indian”, he said. “One Indian has a serious brain injury”. A spokesman for the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, Commander Jeff Breslau, said 16 Navy divers and a US ship assisted in rescue efforts. He said the boat sank in a harbour close to the shore.

1 April 2006

The captain of cruise boat Al-Dana, which capsized off the coast of Bahrain, has been detained and is being questioned over the accident in which 57 people drowned, most of them Indians and Britons, Bahrain’s public prosecutor said today. The captain did not have a license to pilot the boat, the prosecutor, Nawaf Hamza, told reporters in Manama. He said the captain was ordered to be held seven days for questioning. Coast Guard helicopters and divers were still searching for two people missing since the small cruise boat carrying 126 people capsized Thursday (March 30) night. The vessel could carry a maximum of 150 people, said an official with the vessel’s owner, Al Kobaisi Travel and Tours, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Colonel Tariq Al-Hassan, an Interior Ministry spokesman, said today that the national Coast Guard and air force were combing beaches, while divers and helicopters were searching the waters for the two missing.

2 April 2006

The Bahraini cruise boat Al-Dana, which capsized off Bahrain’s coast killing at least 57 people last week, was not licensed to sail, an official said. Interior Ministry spokesman Colonel Tareq Al-Hassan told reporters late yesterday that the ship’s owner had applied for a license but never completed the procedures. “The owner of the ship had applied for a license in December 2005. He was asked to meet the regulations, the conditions, and he was given a list of regulations that were required”, Hassan said. “He went away to complete the regulations but never came back to be licensed. So the ship is not licensed to be a sailing ship but it is registered as a fishing boat”, Hassan said. The boat trip was sponsored by companies involved in a major construction project in Bahrain including South African construction firm Murray & Roberts, its local partner Nass and subcontractors.

2 April 2006

The death toll from the March 30 sinking of the cruise boat Al-Dana rose to 58 today when the body of a man was found washed offshore south of Bahrain, officials said. Search and rescue efforts had been scaled down, with some reports suggesting that it had been called off after the discovery of the body as the number of dead and rescued reached 126 people. This matched the figures the Bahraini government suggested to be on board the ill-fated vessel. Yesterday the number of survivors rose to 68 after a British woman was located at home after the disaster. Officials said that the woman who was unaccounted for was rescued by a passing boat and had returned home upon making it to shore.

4 April 2006

The owner of cruise boat Al-Dana is to be interviewed by local prosecutors today. They will question the Bahraini man over why his converted dhow put to sea without being properly licensed. A total of 58 people died when it sank. “The owner has been requested to come today to be talked to as part of the investigation”, a prosecution source said. He will not be arrested. The Indian master, who prosecutors say was not properly licensed to pilot the craft, has been arrested and is still in custody. The Al-Dana was first registered in Qatar and arrived in Bahrain last December. According to Bahraini officials, its owner, who runs a family business, then registered it to be in Bahrain. It was surveyed and he was given a list of requirements the vessel had to meet before it could be given a safety certificate for carrying passengers. However, the process was not completed and the boat went to sea without having been given the all-clear, according to the Bahraini interior ministry. It had only been operating pleasure cruises for less than a month. Bahrain has now suspended all tour boat operations and is requiring each boat to be re-inspected by the Coast Guard before they can resume tours.

5 April 2006

Bahrain said on Tuesday it had charged with manslaughter the captain of cruise boat Al-Dana, which capsized off its coast last week, killing 58 passengers, and detained its owner. Prosecutor Nawaf Hamza said the owner of the twin-decked boat, which officials say was not licensed to sail, was ordered to be detained for seven days for questioning. “The captain contacted the owner when he noticed there were too many passengers. The owner told him to sail despite this”, said Hamza, adding that the owner had admitted the vessel was not insured. Prosecutors said the captain and his assistant had been charged with manslaughter and other offences. Organisers of the dinner cruise told officials that the captain told them the vessel could carry 200 passengers.

1 April 2006Cengkeh (Indonesia)

A cargo vessel on its way from Jakarta to Bengkulu to transport rice for the poor sank near Pisang Island in Lampung last Saturday (March 25), but information on the incident was only received Thursday (March 30) due to the lack of communication equipment. Twelve members of the crew were reported missing as of yesterday afternoon after personnel from Lampung water police, the Navy, West Lampung military district and Krui military command were deployed Thursday evening on a search and rescue mission. Residents of Pesisir Utara district in West Lampung became aware of the incident after teh Krui village head received a letter from the Bengkulu-based shipping company PT Karya Citra Nusabaruna (KCN) on Thursday, informing them that a ship had sunk. General cargo Cengkeh had 21 people on board – 14 crewmen, five owners of the goods and two employees – according to the letter. Chief of staff of the West Lampung military district Major Agus Panca Wardhana said he worked with representatives from various institutions, including the search and rescue team and local Navy personnel in the evacuation of survivors. Iskandar, a board member of PT KCN who survived the mishap, said that the boat sank after being hit by a storm near Pisang Island. Realising that the ship was sinking, passengers jumped into a lifeboat, he said. Iskandar acknowledged that information about the incident came very late because the lifeboat had to wait for a long time for the storm to subside. The lifeboat was not motorised so it relied on the winds to take it to the shore, he said. The condition of other survivors was very poor. They were rushed to Liwa General Hospital, but some were allowed to leave the hospital after treatment. Those who managed to survive were passengers who used life vests on the lifeboat, which was found stranded on Pisang Island. As soon as they were discovered by the SAR team, they were brought to the shipping company’s command post in Merak, Banten.

6 April 2006Capsized vessel at Djibouti

A Djibouti wooden vessel, carrying about 250 people on an annual religious pilgrimage, sank today, killing at least 69 people, authorities said. The vessel, laden with construction materials and three times the passengers it was built for, sank just 100 metres from the port in Djibouti, witnesses said. It was sailing for the town of Tadjoura, 35 km (22 miles) to the Northeast, when it went down shortly after 1300 hrs (1000 UTC), on a pilgrimage known as Djamaad. “It was so quick that people were brought down by the materials, which sank with them”, a survivor said. Another survivor said a small wave caused the vessel to capsize. Local fishermen, later assisted by the French and Djibouti navies, scrambled to rescue the victims, many of whom were elderly men who could not swim. At least 20 people were believed still missing from the vessel, which was built to carry a maximum of 80, officials said. The search was called off as night fell. Thirty-six people were hospitalised, with seven in a serious condition, hospital officials said. Witnesses said there was pandemonium as people rushed to board the vessel earlier in the day. No passenger list was available. The dead were laid next to buildings along the port until nightfall, when some were taken to hospitals and others were buried. Captain Bob Everdeen of the Combined Joint US Task Force Horn of Africa, based in Djibouti, said Navy divers had been sent to assist.

7 April 2006New Fuji (Indonesia)

General cargo New Fuji (682 gt, built 1986) sank in the Sawu Sea, between Timor Island and Flores, in East Nusa Tenggara in the early hours of Sunday (April 2); however, the accident went unreported until Wednesday. The vessel departed from Tenau Port in Kupang on Saturday carrying 32 people comprising of 16 crew members including its skipper, ten cattle caretakers, two shipping company employees and four passengers, along with a cargo of 265 head of cattle, 71 slabs of marble, nine containers filled with scrap iron, and a sedan. Authorities only received information about the fate of the freighter three days later from three survivors who were found adrift at sea and picked up by a Pertamina tanker, Plaju, which was passing the area, about 65 nautical miles from Tenau Port. Tenau Port administration head, FX Bambang Julianto, when contacted yesterday, said that his office immediately coordinated with the local search and rescue team, the main naval base and related agencies after receiving information on the accident, to locate other possible survivors. “The captain did not send out an SOS before the ship sank. We only knew that a ship had sunk after the Pertamina depot manager informed us about the three survivors who were plucked from the sea by the passing tanker”, said Bambang. One of the survivors, Nurhamin, the ship’s third navigator, when contacted separately, said that the vessel had set sail from the port when the sky was cloudy, the sea calm and there were slight winds. However, after sailing for about 13 hours, strong winds, heavy rain and waves as high as three metres suddenly appeared. “Huge waves hit the ship’s starboard, shifting the load, including the 250 head of cattle and marble slabs to the port side of the ship, and within minutes it sank”, he said, adding that the captain was unable to call for help because the accident happened so quickly. “When the ship started listing, the captain at one point ordered his men to call for help through the satellite telephone, but as the ship was about to sink, we only had the opportunity to fire two flare signals. The passengers then took the life buoys and jumped overboard”, said Nurhamin, from Cepu, Central Java. The vessel was owned by PT Puspa Laut Kencana in Surabaya but was leased to Surabaya-based PT Suntrako. Three vessels operated by Suntrako – Seruni, Anggrek and Altamanda – are still scouring the location in the hope of finding more survivors.