Wreck of missing bulk carrier found, 25 missing

     On 5 March, the Albion Two (Cypriot-registry 16,278-gt, 27,408-dwt
bulk carrier built in 1975, operated by P.A. Lemos) was reported overdue at
Kingston, Jamaica, with steel from Gdynia, Poland. The ship's last known
location was off Ushant Island, France. On 8 March, the Peter Marlene
(Danish-registry fishing vessel) returned to its homeport in Denmark and
after learning that information had been requested from vessels in the area
at the time the Albion Two was last seen, reported it had located an
unknown object on 18 Feb. by sonar in 130 meters/430 feet of water about 56
kilometers/35 miles south-southwest of Ushant Island. The object was six
meters/20 feet high, located at 48 degrees 18.8 minutes north, 06 degrees
08.7 minutes west. On 13 March, a French Navy minehunter, using a PAP-104
remote-controlled vehicle equipped with a television camera, identified the
object as the Albion Two after reading the ship's name and homeport off the
stern. The ship had a crew of 25. It is believed that the ship sank in a
storm that moved through the area on 17 and 18 Feb.

Disarfell sinks southeast of Iceland killing two

     The Disarfell (Antigua and Barbuda-registry 5,967-gt, 8,020-dwt,
516-TEU capacity dry cargo vessel built in 1982, owned and operated by
Samskip HF) sank at 0800 9 March about 185 kilometers/115 miles southeast
of Hornafjordur, Iceland. The ship, with a crew of 12, lost 15 containers
overboard in a storm at 0330 sailing from Iceland to Torshavn, the Faroe
Islands. The ship took on water and developed a 20 to 30 degree list.
Later, four more containers were lost and the ship developed a 90 degree
list. At 0700, the Icelandic Coast Guard's Super Puma helicopter rescued 10
of the crew, who were wearing survival suits. During the rescue, the ship
was reported capsized and later sank. Attempts to launch a lifeboat were
not successful and two crewmembers were killed. The helicopter found one
body and a trawler found the other. The ship was insured with the Skuld P.
& I. Club.

Two missing after collision off Texas

     The Jill G (34-meter/110-foot offshore supply vessel) collided with
the Martin Joseph (15-meter/50-foot fishing vessel) near Galveston, Texas,
on 28 Feb. The Martin Joseph was under tow, in heavy fog, by the fishing
vessel Richard II. Two crewmembers from the Martin Joseph were lost
overboard and are missing. Four others aboard were rescued.

Pilot killed in sinking near St. Louis

     The fishing vessel Mary Burke sank 1 March in mid-channel at mile
marker 176 of the Mississippi River, near St. Louis. The vessel, with
15,000 liters/4,000 gallons of diesel fuel, was doing light tow work. A
pilot, the only person aboard, was killed.

Two rescued from sinking yacht off Australia in a cyclone

     Robin Ansell, 50, and his wife Margaret, 49, were rescued from a
dinghy 9 March off northeatern Australia in 10-meter/30-foot seas. Their
15-meter/50-foot yacht Orca began taking on water about 280 kilometers/174
miles northeast of Townsville, Queensland, that afternoon. The two, both
Canadian citizens, attempted to ride out Cyclone Justin near Malay Reef
aboard the Cayman Islands-registered yacht, sailing from Airlie Beach in
the Whitsunday Islands of Queensland to the Solomon Islands. A helicopter
from the Queensland Emergency Services winched them aboard 100
kilometers/62 miles from the cyclone's center. An aircraft from the Royal
Flying Doctor Service accompanied the helicopter.

Icelandic Coast Guard rescues fishing vessel crew

     The Icelandic Coast Guard's Super Puma helicopter rescued 10
crewmembers at 1600 10 March from the Thorsteinn (Icelandic-registry 171-gt
trawler built in 1963), which was adrift near Krisuvikurbjarg, Iceland.
Shortly after the crew was rescued, the vessel ran aground at 63 degrees 49
minutes north, 22 degrees 12 minutes west, and is a total loss. Fishing
nets fouled the vessel's propeller, leaving it adrift.

Supply vessel and Russian-registry ship collide on the Mississippi

     The Alex (U.S.-registry offshore supply vessel) collided with the
Professor Vladimir Popov (Russian-registry) on the lower Mississippi River
at Pilottown, La., at 0010 12 March. Conditions in the area included fog.
The three people aboard the Alex suffered minor injuries, while the vessel
has severe damage and sailed 16 kilometers/10 miles to Venice. The
Professor Vladimir Popov sustained minor damage and is anchored at
Pilottown.

Ferry collision at Ramsgate

     Two ferries operated by Holyman Sally Ferries collided at Ramsgate,
England, on 9 March in dense fog. One child passenger was slightly injured.

Vessels collide an entrance to Southampton

     The Red Falcon (British-registry 2,881-gt, 680-dwt ro/ro ferry built
in 1994, operated by Red Funnel Group) collided with the Volvox Hansa
(Dutch-registry 6,814-gt, 11,985-dwt hopper dredge built in 1970, operated
by Van Oord ACZ B.V.) near the Hook Buoy at the entrance to Southampton,
England, on 9 March. The Red Falcon was inbound to Southampton. Both
suffered minor damage.

Loaded oil tanker runs aground in Venezuela

     The Olympic Sponsor (Greek-registry 96,547-dwt tanker built in 1994,
owned and operated by Olympic Shipping and Management S.A.) ran aground at
1800 11 March in the channel of Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela, between buoys 20
and 22. The ship was carrying 476,940 barrels of medium crude oil for
Lagoven S.A. and none was spilled. It was sailing from Las Salinas for Veba
Oel in Germany.

Fog at Flushing roads causes a collision and a grounding

     On 10 March, the inland vessel Honte collided with the anchored
Athenais P. (Greek-registry) in heavy fog at Flushing Roads, the
Netherlands. The latter vessel's rudder was damaged. The Bow Lady
(Norwegian-registry 32,227-dwt tanker built in 1978, operated by Storli
A.S.A.) ran aground in the Scheldt River in the Netherlands 10 March. The
ship, assisted by tugs, was refloated two hours later.

Inland vessels collide in Germany

     On 23 Feb., the Stranger (Dutch-registry) collided with the Panda
(German-registry) on the Donau and Main rivers in Germany. The inland
vessels collided after their master's misunderstood each other due to
language problems. The master of the Panda spoke only Russian.

Fishing vessel grounds at Cape Paramanof, Alaska

     The fishing vessel Jenny D ran aground 1 March 1.6 kilometers/one mile
south of Cape Paramanof, Alaska. The two people aboard abandoned the vessel
into a skiff intending to try to reach Manila Bay with a white strobe light
and an emgergency position indicating radio beacon. The U.S. Coast Guard
"Island"-class Patrol Boat U.S.C.G.C. Roanoke Island (WPB 1346) rescued the
two and took them to Homer Airport.

Haci Hilmi II aground

     The Haci Hilmi II (Turkish-registry 3,929-gt, 6,443-dwt general cargo
vessel built in 1992, operated by Birlik Denizcilik Islet) ran aground 11
March approaching the inland channel at Porto Nogaro. The ship was carrying
6,000 tons of slabs from Novorossiysk, Russia.

Bulk carrier towed to port after engine trouble

     The Kopalnia Piaseczno (Polish-registry 8,721-gt, 13,665-dwt bulk
carrier built in 1971, operated by Polsteam Shortramp Ltd.) had engine
problems 11 March and drifted at 64 degrees 39 minutes north, 07 degrees 33
minutes east, off Norway. The Boa Chief (Norwegian-registry salvage tug)
took the ship in tow for Trondheim, Norway.

Engine aboard the Calma damaged

     The Calma (Sri Lankan-registry 398-gt general cargo vessel) had engine
damage 7 March at 34 degrees 56 minutes north, 26 degrees 06 minutes east,
in the Mediterranean Sea south of Crete, Greece. The ship was sailing from
Damietta, Egypt, to Piraeus, Greece, and diverted to Ierapetra, Crete.

Independent inquiry into the sinking of the Estonia rejected

     A court in Nanterre, France, on 10 March denied a request for an
independent investigation into the sinking of the Estonia. Judge Xavier
Raguin ruled that an official commission of Estonia, Finland and Sweden
must first complete its work, scheduled for May. Several hundred relatives
requested an investigation of the vessel's sinking on 28 Sept., 1994, off
Finland, killing 852 people. Only 137 were rescued from the vessel, which
was sailing from Tallinn, Estonia, to Stockholm, Sweden. The hearing was
held in Nanterre as the Estonia's classification society, Bureau Veritas,
is in La Defense.

Thousands of sea lions killed as result of oil spill

     At least 3,000 sea lions at a Uruguayan nature reserve have been
killed since 8 Feb., when the San Jorge (Panamanian-registry 36,902-gt,
67,031-dwt tanker built in 1981, owned Transportes Maritimos Petroleros and
operated by Astra Tankers) ran aground 37 kilometers/23 miles
south-southwest of Punta del Este near Lobos Island. The ship carried
58,000 cubic meters/2.03 million cubic feet or 370,000 barrels, and was
sailing from Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina, to Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.'s
facility in Sao Sebastian, Brazil. The ship is double-hulled, but five
tanks to starboard were damaged. They carried 30,000 cubic meters/1.05
million gallons of oil. About 25,000 cubic meters/one million cubic feet of
oil was lightered to other tankers and the ship was refloated with tug
assistance 10 Feb. Oil came ashore along 25 kilometers/16 miles of beach
north of Punta del Este, with oil three to four centimeters/1.2 to 1.5
inches thick. Many female sea lions have become unable to feed their
offspring after being covered with oil.

N.T.S.B. issues report on the grounding of the Royal Majesty

     Royal Majesty (Panamanian-registry 32,000-gt, 2,700-dwt, 173-meter/568
foot, 1,056 passenger capacity ship built in 1992) ran aground at 2230 10
June, 1995, on the sand Rose and Crown Shoal 16 kilometers/10 miles east of
Nantucket Island, Mass., because the crew was inattentive and relied too
heavily on a computerized display, according to a U.S. National
Transportation Safety Board report issued 12 March. The ship ran aground
while sailing from St. George's, Bermuda, to Boston with 1,509 people
aboard. She was 27 kilometers/17 miles outside shipping lanes and with
6.1-meter/20-foot draft, the bow ran aground in 3.4 meters/11 feet of
water. Five tugboats refloated the ship at high tide with damage limited to
stress cracks in the hull and fuel tank. Including lost revenue, the
incident cost U.S.$7 million. The N.T.S.B. report said the crewmembers were
not adequately trained in the use of the automated capabilities of the
ship's integrated bridge system, including an STN ATLAS Elektronik G.m.b.H.
Navigation Command System (NACOS 25) with two input ports for a Raytheon
G.P.S. receiver and a Raytheon Loran C receiver. Crewmembers training was
limited to on-the-job knowledge from each other, with no performance or
training standards, no inspections and no certifications. An hour out of
Bermuda, an antenna cable connection on a G.P.S. receiver was severed. The
system defaulted to dead reckoning when the cable was disrupted, and did
not account for wind or sea changes. The automated display therefore showed
the ship on course. The ship failed to acknowledge alarms, visual warnings,
aids to navigation including channel buoys and lights and differences in
water color. Norwegian Cruise Line recently announced plans to buy the
Royal Majesty from Kvaerner A.S.A. for U.S.$190 million.