Casualties

By Fred McCague

September
9/12/09 The Long Beach Press Telegram reports longshoreman John “J.R.” Kiser, 53, died after being hit by a yard tractor at the Evergreen Terminal in Los Angeles.

9/25/09 The Bahamian open hatch bulk carrier Petersfield ran aground in Douglas Channel shortly after sailing from the Eurocan Pulp Dock in Kitimat, B.C. suffering extensive damage to the bow. After freeing herself and surveys, the ship proceeded to Vancouver Drydock for 20 days of repair work on her bow.

9/25/09 The inbound Marshall Islands 458-foot tanker Chemical Supplier suffered a 2 ft x 4 ft gash in one of her fuel tanks resulting in a 10,600 gallon spill after colliding with Buffalo Barge #251 in the Houston ship channel near the I-610 bridge.

9/27/09 The Singapore tanker Stolt Vision, anchored nine-miles northeast of Savannah reported a minor 97-gallon oil spill after its fuel tank was ruptured by the ship’s anchor.

9/28/09 An unidentified longshoreman collapsed moments after returning from lunch break at the Yang Ming terminal in Los Angeles. The victim had been cleaning containers earlier in the day when he reportedly became sick and asked to take a break. Returning from lunch, he collapsed about 1 p.m. after suffering an apparent heart attack just inside the terminal’s front gate. (Long Beach Press-Telegram)

9/28/09 The Singapore tanker Eagle Tucson ran aground on the Lower Mississippi near Pilottown, La. Six tugs assisted in freeing the ship.

October
10/7/09 The Post and Courier reports Calvin “Jake” Jacobs, 64, a truck driver was killed inside South Carolina State Ports Authority property in North Charleston. He had exited his vehicle and was walking across the storage yard when he was hit by a rubber-tired gantry crane according to a port spokesman.

10/16/09 The 857-foot Antigua container ship Alvsborg Bridge was towed from Tacoma to Victoria Shipyards with a cracked rudderpost. The ship had arrived at Tacoma Oct 12. The scheduled westbound sailing was cancelled and after extensive, complex repairs, the ship returned to service Nov.18 in Vancouver. .

10/17/09 At 11:54 p.m., the FV Si Se Puede reported the master had fallen overboard 20 miles south of South Padre Island, Texas. His body washed ashore on South Padre Island Oct 21.

10/18/09 The Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Amundsen grounded in Prince of Wales Strait in the Northwest Passage. The ship refloated at high tide.

10/19/09 The 600-foot MV John F reported a minor fuel spill while bunkering. Responders could not find anything, however a few days later tar balls appears on a number of beach and the Coast Guard led a $300,000 clean up. The tar balls were eventually traced back to the John F spill.

10/20/09 The 166-foot offshore supply ship AET Endeavor and the 820-foot Liberian tanker Krymsk collided in the Gulf of Mexico, 40 miles southeast of Galveston when both were maneuvering away after completing lighter crude oil from the
supertanker Vega Star. The Krymsk lost 18,000 gallons of oil. Airdropped dispersants were used to break up the spill.

10/21/09 Responding to concerns about the overdue FV Bottom Basher of Lubec, Maine with a crew of three prompted a US Coast Guard search that located debris and one body. The other two men were not found.

10/29/09 Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules CG-1705 from Sacramento flying on a search and rescue mission and a Marine Corps AH-1W Super Cobra helicopter on a training mission from Camp Pendleton
collided 15 miles east of San Clemente Island, Calif. about 7:10 pm. Seven Coast Guardsmen and two Marines were lost.

10/30/09 The tanker Dubai Star had a hose rupture while bunkering from a barge at Anchorage 9 in San Francisco Bay spilling between 400 and 800 gallons of oil.

10/30/09 The Singapore MV Pac Alkaid anchored 5 miles southeast of Southwest Pass near Venice, La. reported an oil spill, later estimated at 12,000 gallons caused by a hole approximately five centimeters in diameter five feet below the waterline in a starboard fuel tank. The cause of the hole is currently unknown. By Nov 1, divers had patched the hole and the ship arrived in New Orleans for repairs.

November
11/3/09 The Coast Guard responded to the runaway 39-foot FV Axel approximately 130 miles southwest of San Francisco after the FV Miss Allison reported finding the body of an unidentified male, the sole crew member, attached to a crab pot to Coast Guard Station Morro Bay. A 47-foot lifeboat from Morro Bay picked up the body.

11/6/09 Cargolaw.com reports the 965-foot Liberian container ship Hyundai Kingdom encountered strong weather, lost several containers and suffered engine room damage. The vessel arrived at Tacoma on Nov. 8.

11/8/09 The 754-foot Panamanian-flagged bulk carrier Corona Infinity, 40 miles north of Dutch Harbor, reported a
21-year-old Filipino crewman missing overboard. An extensive search joined by the FV Andronica and Coast Guard aircraft failed to locate him.

In This Issue

Up Front

News, Trends & Analysis
New Items

Transport Economics: Don’t be so gloomy

Capitol Watch: From cargo screening to
roadability equipment

Trade Tools: A different world of trade in 2010

Supply Chain
Chris Steele: The corner and what’s around it

Compliance Corner: Hot trade compliance issues for 2010

Tech Trends: Five trends for 2010

Commentary
David Bennett: Five predictions for 2010

Gateway Glance
Georgia

Vietnam

The Port Community
East Coast Ports 2010: Five things to watch for

West Coast Ports 2010: The future of West Coast port productitivy?

The Shipping Environment: Five sustainable trends for 2010

Product Review: Cranes

Casualties
Triple-deck trailer barge snaps towline, tankers leak,
Coast Guard ice breaker runs aground ... and much more

Final Say
Your supply chain dynamics: 2010 crisis? Or oppotrunities?