Car Carrier Accidents - A Catalyst For Change

CAR CARRIER ACCIDENTS –
A CATALYST FOR CHANGE

Student: NEGOITA ADRIAN-ALEXANDRU
Coordinator: Prof. Ing. Cdt. APETROAEI GABRIEL-MARIUS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
 INTRODUCTION
 CASE STUDIES
 SOLUTIONS TO AVOID ACCIDENTS
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Introduction
 Car carriers and Ro-Ro ships are characterised by their

extensive covered cargo lanes above the main deck, each
of which extends over a large area where any water ingress
will rapidly affect the transverse stability. Similarly, any
cargo shift can also reduce the available intact stability and
the safety of the ship.
 A ro-ro vessel is one of the most sought after cargo
ships to work on. Providing both cargo and
passengers carrying capabilities, ro-ro ships reaches
ports more frequently and have shorter voyages. The
flexibility, speed and the ship’s functionality to
blend with other transportation modes has made it
popular among seafarers.
 However, there are things that make ro-ro ships dangerous
to work on. Ro-ro ships have been criticized for a number
of reasons, mainly because of one single reason – safety of
the ship.
 Safety being the primary concern of ship owner, operator,
and seafarer, lately ro-ro ship has become less famous to
work on. We bring you eight reasons that make ro-ro ship
is a bit dangerous to work on as compared to other ships.
 More recent incidents have demonstrated that despite
developments and improvements, issues remain. Any
problems concerning operations, stability and cargo
securing should be considered carefully to ensure that
risks and hazards are identified, recognised and mitigated.
 There have been a number of serious incidents involving
car carriers and other Ro-Ro passenger ships over the
years. These incidents were the catalyst for a number of
radical changes to the way that these ships are operated
and new design features to improve the stability and safety
Case studies
 MV Tricolor
 The Norwegian-flag vehicle carrier named MV Tricolor sunk in the

English Channel on December 14th, 2002. The car carrier collided with
container ship named Kariba, 20 miles north of the French coast. Kariba
managed to sail away, but MV Tricolor sunk with a load of 3,000 cars
(BMW, Volvo and Saab).
 MV Cougar Ace
Sometimes, only a severe list is all it takes to scrap all the cargo. It was the case of car
carrier MV Cougar Ace. The Singapore-flagged ship owned by Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL)
was on route from Japan to Vancouver, Canada with a cargo of 4,800 vehicles. 4,700 were
Mazda cars (Mazda3, CX-7, MX-5, RX-8). The rest of the cargo was made of over 100
Isuzu trucks. The cargo was valued at $117 million.
On 23rd July, 2006 she lost stability during an exchange of ballast water south of
the Aleutian Islands. The ship developed a 60-degree list to port.
She was salvaged after being towed to Dutch Harbor, Unalaska, Alaska. She was
righted and returned to her owner. Unfortunately, all the cars were scrapped by
Mazda.
 MV Baltic Ace
 Another car carrier sunk after a collision was the MV Baltic Ace. Operated by Euro
Marine Logistics, the 148m carrier collided with container ship Corvus J in the North
Sea on 5th December 2012. Baltic Ace was en route from Zeebrugge, Belgium to
Kotka, Finland with a cargo of 1,400 Mitsubishi cars for the Russian market.
 The collision took place 25 nautical miles of the Dutch coast. 15 minutes after
the collision, she sunk in shallow waters.
 Weather conditions made the search for survivors difficult. 13 sailors were
saved from the 24 that made the crew of Baltic Ace.
 Hoegh Osaka
 One of the latest and high profile disaster was the grounding of car carrier Hoegh
Osaka in 2015. The Japanese-built ship is owned by Hoegh Autoliners, a
Norwegian company that specialises in transporting cars.
 The 180m ship developed a severe list on January 3rd 2015 as she was
underway between the port of Southampton, United Kingdom and
Bremerhaven, Germany. With the rudder and propeller out of the water,
the ship grounded on the Bramble Bank off the Isle of Wight.
 The cargo was made of buses, construction equipment, Range Rover,
Rolls-Royce, and other cars. 1,400 vehicles were on board. She was
rescued and towed back to Southampton were the list was reduced to 5-
degrees and the cargo was unloaded.
Solutions to avoid accidents
 Stability
 The importance of ship stability should not be

underestimated. The Chief Officer, or Officer responsible to
the Master for the ship’s stability, should ensure all the
relevant information relating to the cargo both discharged
and loaded in the current port is provided to the Master. The
Chief Officer should also ensure that the Master is aware of
any cargo that has been shifted within the ship during cargo
operations as this will have an effect on the final
distribution of loads within the ship and the final departure
condition.
 Communication
 The Master should ensure that prior to cargo operations

commencing, a meeting is held between the ships staff
responsible for cargo operations and the terminal/
stevedores responsible for loading the ship. This is to
ensure that all parties understand their roles and
responsibilities and that the ships requirements with
regards to cargo operations are fully understood.
 General Safety Precautions
 Crew working on vehicle decks should wear

appropriate personnel protective equipment (PPE) at
all times including high visibility vests.
 The risk of fire on a vehicle deck is a real possibility
given the nature of the cargo, ship’s crew should
enforce the ‘NO SMOKING’ rules and ensure that
signage is clearly visible. In addition, the location of
fire-fighting equipment should be clearly marked and
all apparatus checked on a regular basis.
 Ventilation
 Vehicle decks should be adequately ventilated at all times;

this may require ventilation fans to be operated
continuously during short passages to remove the
accumulation of hazardous gasses and fumes.
 Officers should pay particular attention during loading or
discharge when there may be an accumulation of fumes on
the vehicle decks, in addition the carriage of flammable
gasses or liquids will require additional ventilation.
Bibiliography
 https://
maritimecyprus.com/wp-content/uploads/20
17/10/car_matters_guide-s-1.pdf
 https://
boats.drivemag.com/features/disasters-at-sea-
involving-car-carrier-ships

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CAR CARRIER ACCIDENTS –

A CATALYST FOR CHANGE

 Car carriers and Ro-Ro ships are characterised by their

 The Norwegian-flag vehicle carrier named MV Tricolor sunk in the

 The importance of ship stability should not be

 The Master should ensure that prior to cargo operations

 Crew working on vehicle decks should wear

 Vehicle decks should be adequately ventilated at all times;

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