ShipSpotting.com Forum
Shipspotters all over the world => Shipping News and information => Topic started by: Richard Paton on June 13, 2020, 02:03:07 PM
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Stellar Banner declared a TLC, scuttled off Brazil on Friday with roughly half her cargo of Iron Ore still onboard...video below:
https://youtu.be/a_y7UrbelSQ
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If they intended to scuttle the vessel deliberately I guess they removed all equipment which could be a threat to the marine environment.
Wandering why the lifeboat was not removed.....
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Wandering why the lifeboat was not removed...
...or why the radar antenna was still rotating.
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Brasil style ship recycling, according to the motto out of sight out of mind - problem solved. Same procedere was done on the AL JOHFFA in March 1996 = http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=3168469
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Ever anyone thought about that the vessel was ready to sink at anytime, that may be the reason why she was towed to a deep water location and that they barely were able to keep her afloat till then and no crew was on the ship on the way. That they could have removed some things,,sure. But its a simple question of economics and money. Who pays for it, one should think the owners P and I insurance. Based on that the question of how should be addressed to the P and I involved and not "brazilian style"
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...or why the radar antenna was still rotating.
According to some fish, the radar antenna rotates to this day...
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The video blew my mind.
She went down like a stone; her funnel detached at the end, and sunk some seconds later. Having seen the "Derbyshire" sinking animation, where it was claimed that the bulker sank within two minutes from the moment of the collapse of the first hatch cover, now I think it could have been even quicker than that...
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There is an interesting comment on the issue on shipwrecklog.com:
Back in February 2020, there had been reports the vessel had sustained several cracks and structural damage. Like many of her sister ships, the Stellar Banner size and design may have made it vulnerable to structural failures. Thus any minor grounding would result in structural damage and eliminate any attempts to tow the vessel to a shipyard for repairs.
There have been many documented cases of design failures that plagued sister ships. In 1892, the SS Western Reserve and SS W. H. Gilcher sank in the Great Lakes. Both vessels were one of the first to be built with steel. Reports determine the steel used had too much phosphorus and sulfur making the steel brittle. There was only one single survivor between both vessels. With ore carriers, the lost of the Derbyshire in 1980 and her sister ship Kowloon Bridge in 1986 prompted the further investigations of possible structure flaws in both vessels construction. Thus when you see a list of structural failures in a fleet of vessels, an wider investigation may be warranted.
List of recent VLOC incidents:
Vale Beijing sustains structural damage during loading in 2011
Stellar Daisy foundered with all hands in 2017
Stellar Unicorn finds structural damage in 2017 and later sold for scrap
Stellar Queen sustains cracks on main deck in 2017 while sailing in ballast
Stellar Cosmo sustains structural damage while searching for survivors of the Stellar Daisy and later sold for scrap in 2017
Stellar Banner strikes bottom and later declared total constructive loss in 2020
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Maybe this list needs some explanation.
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List of recent VLOC incidents:
Vale Beijing sustains structural damage during loading in 2011
Stellar Daisy foundered with all hands in 2017
Stellar Unicorn finds structural damage in 2017 and later sold for scrap
Stellar Queen sustains cracks on main deck in 2017 while sailing in ballast
Stellar Cosmo sustains structural damage while searching for survivors of the Stellar Daisy and later sold for scrap in 2017
Stellar Banner strikes bottom and later declared total constructive loss in 2020
First, let's remove "Vale Beijing" and "Stellar Banner", as they clearly don't belong with the rest.
Both "Vale Beijing" and "Stellar Banner" were (are) purpose built VLOC vessels, while the rest were crude oil tanker conversions.
"Stellar Unicorn" (ex-Musashi Spirit), built in 1993 and converted to ore carrier in 2009.
"Stellar Daisy" (ex-Sunrise III), 1993/2008. Also, she did not "founder with all hands", as there were 2 survivors.
"Stellar Queen" (ex-Hydra Star), 1994/2010.
"Stellar Cosmo" (ex-Suzuka), 1992/2008.
I think I will not be too far off when I say that they were pushed to their limits by their owners, to try to squeeze the last dime from their service.
The reasons why "Vale Beijing" almost foundered during her first loading... will maybe be published one day.
As for a VLOC (or any other ship type, for that matter) to sustain irreparable damage after grounding, this is nothing new, and may well be completely unconnected to her design characteristics.
"Valle Beijing" incident did prompt many actions (and the vessel and her sisters continue to trade to this very day), but there was no word of VLOC design review in general after the grounding of "Stellar Banner".