Collision in Sunderland

[Kelvin Davies]

According to the BBC, the small general cargo ship, Alexander Kuprin, IMO 9057317, was involved in a collision while leaving Sunderland yesterday.
The ship apparently hit a historic jetty and 5 moored yachts.
Kelvin
BBC Story:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wear/8157511.stm
(I have written to the BBC complaining about their frequent inaccuracies when it comes to reporting any news concerning ships etc!)

[Allan RO]

Hi Kelvin

Can we get her to visit Southampton and demolish a few more yachts, she should be able to get 20 - 25 in one go if she tried !!

Allan

[Mike]

Always thought Valletta was in Malta!
Strange for a Russian ship to be registered there, suppose there must also be another Valletta in Russia?
Interesting to see who gets the blame,not an expert but I would have thought the pilot???
Mike

[Phil English]

It is and there isn't.

Typically, the BBC has got it's knickers in a twist yet again when it comes to a maritime story. I guess that's why Kelvin made the comment that he did at the bottom of his OP.

For the record, the ship is Russian owned but Maltese- flagged.  :-P

Phil

[Kelvin Davies]

Phil,

You are right.
I often wonder why so many Russian owned ships, even those with funnel markings that are basically the Russian Federation flag, are registered in Valletta. I suspect it has something to do with oligarchs keeping their money away from the government back home.
I took great delight in taking the BBC to task over inaccuracies and the occasional poor grammar. In particular, I told them that any story that they run concerning shipping is almost invariably inaccurate (tankers labelled as container ships etc). I am awaiting their reply!
Once upon a time, if the BBC said it, then it was pretty much guaranteed to be accurate. Not so these days.
Kelvin

[Phil English]

Kelvin,

Even the major Russian shipowners such as Sovcomflot mainly use FoCs rather than the Russian national flag. It's no different to any other national registry and Russians use FoCs for the same reason as other shipowners the World over. It's cheaper, less bureaucratic and - yes - the money doesn't go to the government back home.  :lol:

Phil

kelvin wrote:
Phil,

You are right.
I often wonder why so many Russian owned ships, even those with funnel markings that are basically the Russian Federation flag, are registered in Valletta. I suspect it has something to do with oligarchs keeping their money away from the government back home.
I took great delight in taking the BBC to task over inaccuracies and the occasional poor grammar. In particular, I told them that any story that they run concerning shipping is almost invariably inaccurate (tankers labelled as container ships etc). I am awaiting their reply!
Once upon a time, if the BBC said it, then it was pretty much guaranteed to be accurate. Not so these days.
Kelvin

[Simon Olsen]

Kelvin, Phil

Finance can also be an issue. A western bank is likely to require a ship which it is financing to be registered in a country whose legal system is based on English law. I think that was a factor in the large number of Russian ships which were registered in Cyprus following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

regards
Simon