Return of the Coffin Ships
Hello everyone, trying out this format in a bid of both help and insight. For close to a year now, I have been researching, to the best of my ability, the string of casualties for bulk carriers as far back as 1969 and as late as 2019, though excluding casualties which were the result of collision, fire, explosion, and grounding. My aim is strictly at bulk carriers which have foundered from progressive flooding, structural failure, cargo shift/liquefaction, and disappearances. In total, I have listed 155 bulk carriers, though some of those listed are quite sparse of information that I can find. Below are those specific bulk carriers I have bare minimum information on, mainly from Lloyd's Casualty Returns, or sparse and short news articles. Some are understandably sparse of information relating to their loss, mainly the cases of disappearances. I added the dates of the loss as well, though for some, it is mostly an approximation.
Name IMO Date (Day / Month / Year)
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Kairali 6706412 03 / 07 / 1979
Agios Giorgis 5036901 11 / 01 / 1980
Dunav 7306154 28 / 12 / 1980
Orient Treasury 6615584 09 / 02 / 1982
Rhodian Sailor 5040067 25 / 12 / 1982
Thomas K 5377783 01 / 02 / 1984
Testarossa 7024562 13 / 01 / 1987
Alborada 6906907 24 / 07 / 1987
Queen Jane 6807137 23 / 10 / 1987
Mega Taurus 7929279 16 / 12 / 1988
Huron 7217602 04 / 05 / 1989
Porn Udom 7001998 09 / 10 / 1989
Continental Lotus 6717899 21 / 01 / 1991
Petchomphoo 6906945 18 / 08 / 1991
Memed Abashidze 7730020 22 / 12 / 1995
Seafaith 7319735 17 / 02 / 1996
Fei Cui Hai 7235989 07 / 02 / 1998
Golden Harvest 7405510 08 / 06 / 1998
Sea Prospect 9136709 26 / 08 / 1998
Xin Zhu Jiang 7515298 21 / 12 / 1999
Aurelia 7909889 02 / 02 / 2005
Bang Xing I 7029665 13 / 03 / 2006
Ever Winner 7720714 20 / 11 / 2007
Mezzanine 7396317 28 / 11 / 2007
Jianmao 9 7518915 09 / 11 / 2010
Apologies for the somewhat messy organization, I am not well acquainted with this system yet. If anyone seeing this happens to know the details of any of these casualties, knew anyone who use work these ships, etc., it would be very much appreciated. Likewise, to readers who have personal experience in shipping and know of the frequent loss of bulk carriers during these periods, what are your thoughts and/or experience with these vessels that were often found structurally unsound? Why did measures take so long to be implemented to prevent further losses?
What inspired this research was a book called "Return of the Coffin Ships" by Bernard Edwards, which brought to light for me the enormity of bulk carrier casualties in past decades (from Leros Strength in 1997 and before). If by chance others know of other books with similar subject matter on bulk carriers, I'd be happy to hear! Many thanks to any who respond.
