Australia Bans Ship Over Navigation Deficiencies

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has banned the Philippines-flagged general cargo ship Thorco Luna after it was detained for a third time this year for consistently failing to meet international standards.

The ship was released from its latest detention at Port Kembla on June 8, 2018 and will not be permitted to enter an Australian port for a period of three months.

AMSA inspected the ship five times between November 2017 and June 2018. On three of these occasions the ship was detained and issued with 34 deficiencies. The ship’s average deficiency rate is 6.8 deficiencies per inspection, which is nearly triple the industry average of 2.3.

The most serious deficiencies stemmed from the fact that officers and crew were unfamiliar with the operation of critical shipboard equipment and procedures for navigation and fire safety. This contravenes the obligations under chapter XI-1 of the Safety of Life at Sea Convention. In one case, the ship’s navigating officers had planned to transit a compulsory pilotage area without a pilot and were unfamiliar with the operation of the electronic navigation systems upon which they relied. AMSA also has concerns with safe systems of work and the operation of critical shipboard equipment for fire-fighting, navigation and alarms.

AMSA has banned six ships in the past two years.