I was browsing a website called Utsira.com keeping an eye on what jobs are on offer in Norway, when I found a story about a Norwegian ships officer who ran amok on a plane to Kuala Lumpur, a quick translation reads that a Norwegian ships officer (it doesn’t say it was an engineer or a deckie!) drank a whole bottle of 60% liquor, and proceeded thereafter to run amok on a KLM flight to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, he had to be controlled by the staff on the plane and handcuffed because of his aggressive behaviour towards the crew and passengers hours before the flight was due to land. On arrival he was arrested by armed police and put in the drunk tank, (in a Muslim country!) He will probably get a hefty fine and most likely lose his job.
Others who traveled in the same group as the man however said that it was not so serious and that it was more of a storm in a teacup.
It reminded me of an old ship mate, (using the term loosely) Pinko got so drunk on a plane home from Brazil (click on the link for the Brazil story) that he got undressed and started to urinate in the aisle, he was dressed again by the flight crew and he passed out completely unaware of his behaviour.
The image of the drunken sailor is really helped by these kind of incidents, I don’t know what could possess someone to drink a whole bottle of booze on a plane, or how it could be allowed to happen. Personal responsibility? I ask you.
Today is Norway’s national day. As the skipper on a Norwegian ship I am expecting a phone call any minute from the King in Oslo ( Ah jaysus is it yourself Tim? It is begob and the blessings of God on you now and regards to herself and the family on the day thats in it,….or something like that) to tell us all to keep up the good work, I hope he speaks English I doubt he can speak Tagalog, the Filipino crew won’t be too disappointed though as long as he orders us to “Splice the mainbrace” or whatever they do up in the castle in Oslo.
The other evening a tanker collided with a fishing boat off the coast of Norway, the result was that the fishing boat was cut in two and the occupant was lost. No one on the tanker was injured physically.
It didn’t make too much news in the English language sites and the search for the missing fisherman is called off at this stage. Tragedy for his family, my heart goes out to them.
The reasons for the collision is unknown, it appears that the fishing boat had a crew of one, the missing man. There will be a court hearing next week in Norway. It could be any number of reasons. The Collision regulations state that a Power Driven vessel has under responsibilities between vessels to keep out of the way of a fishing vessel and a vessel of less than 20 metres in length. The tanker is the Power driven vessel and the fishing boat itself and less than 20 metres from all accounts. The only way the tanker should have had right of way is that it was being overtaken, not likely and in a reduced visibilty situation which it was not. So what the court hearing will produce will be interesting to hear. One commentator said that the “visibility was reduced because it was dark”, ……that’s why ships have radars and navigation lights, someone else said that the fishing boat may have been noticed earlier if it had been fitted with AIS (automatic identification system) the legislation for compulsory AIS is still in progress.
I will wait until after the hearing to give any further opinion as a lot of these incidents have more to them than reaches the media.
A few links about the event,
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article2040217.ece
http://en.portnews.ru/news/6948/
http://www.fishupdate.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/8839/Norway:_Collision_at_sea_-_one_missing.html
http://www.shipgaz.com/news/index.php
Published May 3, 2007
in accident, Anchor Handler, Bourbon Dolphin, Sinking, UK, sunk, Norway, wrecks, capsize, Scotland and Shipping.
The Scandinavian Shipping Gazette reports that the AHT Bourbon Dolphin will not be salvaged because of the extreme depth at which she lies and due to the fact that the area can be subject to heavy seas and weather further restricting any salvage attempt. It also points out that the deepest ship salvage ever done was at a depth of 600 metres, Bourbon Dolphin lies at over 1000 metres.
The website Maritime Digital Portal talks about goods salvaged from a depth of 10,000 feet, which is 3000 metres , not quite the same thing but camera and robot technology is available.
The MAIB Marine Accident Investigation Branch of the UK Department for Transport has no mention of the accident on its investigation page. I would have thought that it would come under its jurisdiction.
Bourbon will be conducting it’s own investigation into the tragic accident, to find out why Bourbon Dolphin had the specific tasks she had that day.
Transocean Rathers owners are not making any statements but are waiting for the Norwegian Police and Ministry of Justice investigation. The same goes for Highland Valour.
After browsing the Norwegian newspaper sites I have made a brief account of the court hearing in Ålesund Norway 25th April about the capsize of the Bourbon Dolphin.
The court heard from several witnesses including the off duty Master and one of the Officers who was rescued from the scene. Geir Syversen (32) described how the sequence of events started when another vessel the Highland Valour failed to retrieve the heavy anchor cable from the Bourbon Dolphin which was apparently too small for the job. The Highland Valour during seven attempts to take the chain caught it twice but dropped it both times, increasing the strain on the Bourbon Dolphin.
There was also a near collision between the two vessels which meant that the Bourbon Dolphin had to go full ahead on her engines to avoid a collision, calling into question the seamanship and shiphandling of the Highland Valour.
Then the Valour pushed the Dolphin in the wrong direction and the Dolphin was pushed out of position which meant that her bow thruster got overheated and the Chief Engineer asked him to reduce the load on the thruster.
The Domino effect was in full swing and problems stared mounting for the Bourbon Dolphin, when the Master decided that emergency measures were required, he asked the Chief Officer to use the quick release system to get rid of the anchor chain, but it was not so quick and by then the Chief Engineer called up to say that the engines had stopped.
By this stage hope was out for the ship and it had listed over on its side 90 degrees port side down.
Some of the crew managed to get off before she turned completely around. Then the survivors managed to climb into a raft and others were plucked out of the water.
The Master and his 14 year old son were among 8 crew lost in the accident.
The Norwegian Goverment has set up a Committee to investigate further into the accident.
Norwegian Maritime Directorate
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