U.K. detains Golden Ocean Group bulker

Source: Marine

On Thursday, February 22, the U.K. 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 MCA's Liverpool Marine Office, who arrived to conduct a Port State Control inspection following a report from Customs regarding crew conditions on board.

Golden Glory is a Panamax bulker bareboat chartered in by John Fredriksen's Golden Ocean Group

The MCA says that inspection of the vessel by the surveyors found the overall condition to be very poor. The vessel had incurred heavy weather damage, but this had not been reported to the MCA or to the vesse'ls 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 the 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 Recognized Organisation that issued the ISM Certificates.

The MCA says that the vessel was also detained in Hamburg on January 8 this year.

Pat Dolby, Head of the MCA's Inspection Branch observed,

"This is a classic case of serious neglect by the vessel's 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."