Fishing vessel found capsized, two dead and two missing

     The Miss Lindsay (18-meter/56-foot salmon fishing vessel) was found
capsized the morning of 30 Oct. in 3.7 meters/12 feet of water off an
island in Bellingham Bay, Wash. Two people were killed and two are missing.
Divers found one body in the vessel and a second on the island shore. All
four were from Bellingam, Wash.

One dead, two missing after tanker explodes while anchored at Ulsan

     One crewmember was killed and two are missing after an explosion
aboard the Han Chang No. 5 (South Korean-registry 1,596-gt, 3,857-dwt
tanker built in 1991, operated by Kun Woo Oil Tanker Co. Ltd.) on 2 Nov.
while anchored at Ulsan, South Korea, waiting to load cargo. Nine other
crewmembers were rescued after an explosion in the No. 5 cargo tank just
after 1200. The explosion ignited a fire that badly damaged the tank. The
fire was extinguished and a containment boom was put in place to prevent
pollution from spreading.

Thirteen rescued as fishing vessel sinks off Massachusetts

     The Northern Voyager (U.S.-registry 44.5-meter/146-foot long fishing
vessel homeported at Portland, Maine) sank at 1230 2 Nov. about 5.6
kilometers/3.5 miles southeast of Gloucester, Mass. All 13 crewmembers were
rescued by a 14-meter/47-foot lifeboat from U.S. Coast Guard Station
Gloucester after a distress call was received at 0900. The Coast Guard's
"Island"-class Patrol Boat U.S.C.G.C. Adak (WPB 1333) and a
12-meter/41-foot utility boat from Station Gloucester also responded. Coast
Guard personnel and Northern Voyager crewmembers worked to stop the
flooding but the pumps were overwhelmed. The Northern Voyager is owned by
James Odlin of Portland and operated by David Haggerty of Brunswick, Maine.

Punctured fuel tank spills bunker into Humboldt Bay

     About 19,000 liters/5,000 gallons of bunker C fuel spilled 5 Nov. from
the Kure (Panamanian-registry 183-meter/600-foot bulk carrier) in Humboldt
Bay near Eureka, Calif. The ship punctured fuel tank about 7.2
kilometers/4.5 miles north of the entrance to the bay while docking at a
pier of Louisiana Pacific Lumber Co. It apparently hit a piling. The U.S.
Coast Guard closed the area to navigation while containment boom was set-up
and Clean Bay Inc. began efforts to recover the fuel. The Warrior Two was
to use the Coast Guard's Vessel of Opportunity Skimming System and 25 Coast
Guard personnel were on-scene.

Ferry grounds near terminal in Venezuela

     The Concepcion Marino (Venezuelan-registry 2,735-gt, 1,450-dwt ro/ro
and passenger ferry built in 1978, operated by Consolidada de Ferrys) ran
aground 5 Nov. on a sandbank 100 meters/300 feet from a terminal at Punta
Piedras, Margarita Island, Venezuela. The vessel was sailing to the
terminal from Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela.

NOL Amber grounds in Prince of Wales Channel

     The NOL Amber (Singaporean-registry 33,113-gt, 38,541-dwt, 2,308-TEU
containership built in 1980, operated by Neptune Shipmanagement Services
(Pte.) Ltd.) ran aground late 1 Nov. at 10 degrees 35 minutes south, 142
degrees 04 minutes east. The location is at the western end of the Prince
of Wales Channel near the Torres Strait, eight kilometers/five miles off
Goods Island in Queensland, Australia. The ship, fully loaded, was sailing
from Singapore to Brisbane, Australia as part of the Australia Asia
Express.

King Ace towed to port after cargo shift

     A cargo of steel aboard the King Ace (Panamanian-registry 6,049-gt,
7,732-dwt general cargo ship built in 1995, operated by Okochi Kaiun K.K.)
shifted 5 Nov. while the ship was southeast of Kagoshima, Japan. After
developing a list, the vessel was towed the next day to Naha, Japan.

Royal Australian Navy vessel slightly damaged in Syncrolift accident

     The Royal Australian Navy's Fremantle-class Patrol Boat H.M.A.S.
Gawler (212) sustained minor damage on 4 Nov. at Darwin, Australia. The
vessel was being moved aboard a Syncrolift when a cable snapped and the
vessel fell on its port side. On 5 Nov., the H.M.A.S. Gawler was refloated.

L.P.G. carrier suffers engine trouble

     The Gaz Saint Denis (Kerguelen Islands-registry 3,999-gt, 5,396-dwt
liquefied petrolem gas carrier built in 1977, operated by Naftomar Shipping
& Trading Co.) had a propulsion failure while anchored off Reunion on 23
Oct. It was to be towed to Durban, South Africa.

Sand Kite refloated in Thames River

     The Sand Kite (British-registry 3,110-gt, 4,225-dwt trailing suction
dredger built in 1974, owned and operated by South Coast Shipping Co. Ltd.)
was refloated early 1 Nov. and towed to a berth near the Blackwall Power
Station. The Sand Kite hit Pier 5 of England's Thames River Barrier "F"
Span in fog at 0650 27 Oct. and sank bow first. Its stern was visible above
the water and closed the river for four hours. The ship sank in 5.8
meters/19 feet of water while inbound with gravel and sand for Angesteins
at Greenwich, England. The 10 crew were not injured. Howard Smith salvaged
the vessel.

More on fire aboard the Gijon in British Columbia

     The explosion and fire aboard the Gijon (Russian-registry 7,805-gt,
6,300-dwt, 105-meter/345-foot motor stern-trawling "fish factory" built in
1993, operated by Vladivostok Trawling) is believed to have been caused
when a spark from a welding torch fell into an oil tank. The vessel, at
Esquimalt Graving Dock in Victoria, British Columbia, exploded and caught
fire 24 Oct. while receing cosmetic repairs. All 94 crewmembers were
evacuated and not injured. Five blocks in Victoria were evacuated but the
400 people returned shortly after. As many as 100 firefighters battled the
blaze.

Uni Polaris to appeal Starsea decision

     Uni Polaris has been given permission to appeal an award of U.S.$2
million to Manifest Shipping, owned by Kappa Maritime Ltd. In 1990, the
Starsea (6,858-gt refrigerated ship built in 1974, owned and operated by
Manifest Shipping) caught fire 56 kilometers/35 miles off Panama. Uni
Polaris, its insurer, said that the Starsea was not seaworthy and since
Manifest Shipping knew this, the owner was in a breach of faith. In 1994, a
court ruled that while the ship was unseaworthy, Manifest Shipping had not
made a breach and that Uni Polaris must pay U.S.$2 million. An appeals
court upheld the ruling in February.

I.O.P.C.F. to pay 17 billion Japanese yen for Nakhodka spill

     The International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund will pay 17 billion
Japanese yen in compensation by the end of next year for damage to fishing
and tourism caused by the sinking of the Nakhodka (Russian-registry
13,157-gt, 20,471-dwt tanker built in 1970, owned by Prisco Traffic Ltd.
and operated by Primorsk Shipping Co.). The limit is 23.3 billion yen. The
Nakhodka broke in half 2 Jan. about 130 kilometers/80.6 miles northeast of
the Oki Islands, Japan. Thirty-one of the 32 crew were rescued and the
master was killed. The Nakhodka carried 19,000 tons of grade C heavy fuel,
or 19 million liters/five million gallons or 133,000 barrels. More than
five million liters/1.3 million gallons of oil came ashore in Japan,
affecting the prefectures of Fukui, Hyogo, Ishikawa, Kyoto, Niigata,
Shimane, Tottori and Toyama. The stern sank while the bow came ashore.

Strait of Malacca oil clean-up ends

     Singapore said 4 Nov. that 650 personnel, 80 vessels and 16
organizations had been involved in cleaning up the 28,463 tons of oil
spilled when the Evoikos (Cypriot-registry 75,428-gt, 140,218-dwt tanker
built in 1977, operated by Papaphilippou) and the Orapin Global
(Thai-registry 129,702-gt, 268,450-dwt tanker built in 1975; owned and
operated by Thai International Tankers Co. Ltd. and managed by Denholm Ship
Management Ltd.) collided at 2054 15 Oct. about five kilometers/three miles
south of Pulau Sebarok, Singapore. The Evoikos was sailing from Fujairah,
United Arab Emirates, to Singapore with 120,000 tons/840,000 barrels or 137
million liters/36 million gallons of marine fuel oil. It was to unload the
cargo at Caltex Trading Co. Ltd. and Singapore Petroleum Co. Ltd. The
Evoikos was chartered by Metro Trading International. The Orapin Global was
sailing in ballast to the Arabian Gulf after having left the Singapore
Eastern Anchorage. At last report, a slick measuring four kilometers/2.5
miles by 30 kilometers/19 miles was still 24 kilometers/15 miles off Batu
Pahut, Malaysia. Singapore ended its clean-up operations on 6 Nov. after
Tsavliris completed the transfer of the remaining oil aboard the Evoikos to
the Frixos (Liberian-registry 94,287-dwt tanker built in 1987, operated by
Liquimar Tankers Management Inc.). The Evoikos then sailed to the Raffles
Reserved Anchorage.