B4/2000M Mv. MARIA VG, incident at Sea of Bothnia off Pori, November 7, 2000

On the 7th of November, 2000 the Finnish freighter Mv MARIA VG (two hatches – one hold) loaded, according to her weight capacity, a nearly full cargo of 2662 tonnes of ILMENITE CLAY in bulk, at the port of Pori / Tahkoluoto, Finland, for the destination of the port of Slite / Gotland, Sweden. At the time of the shipment, ilmenite clay was not classified in the BC Code. The officers of MARIA VG interpreted the cargo to be ilmenite, as per the BC Code. However, the shipper did not deliver any certificate of the moisture contents of the actual cargo for the carrying vessel. The shipper of the cargo delivered a document “Typical specification of ilmenite clay” to the master of the vessel. MARIA VG loaded the cargo.

On the 7th of November, 2000 at 15.45 local time, MARIA VG departed from the port of Pori / Tahkoluoto. After about two hours of passage, in moderate swell from her port fore quarter she was rolling moderately. Suddenly she got a permanent list of about 20 degrees to starboard. The course of the vessel was altered against the swell in order to minimise her rolling. In immediate onboard investigations of the cargo holds, it was noted that the cargo had badly liquefied and shifted to starboard in the foremost and aftmost parts of the cargo space. All the officers and crew of the vessel were alerted and prepared for abandoning the vessel by ordering the personnel onto the Bridge of the vessel with their personal survival suits. The Master informed the Turku Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre of the incident. Under escort of the Finnish Coast Guard units (a helicopter and maritime units) the officers and the crew of MARIA VG brought the vessel to Port of Refuge at Rauma, Finland.

After the incident, the total quantity of the cargo of 2662 tonnes of ilmenite Clay of MARIA VG was discharged at the Port of Rauma under control of the cargo sampling system of the Maritime Accident Investigation Board, Finland.

The moisture content in the cargo was extremely high. It was concluded already during the preliminary investigation, that the moisture content cannot have increased during the voyage at sea, but that the cargo had been wet already prior to loading at Tahkoluoto. Cement had been used earlier to retain moisture in the cargo. This time no cement had been used although this was the general impression.

The cause for the incident and the permanent list of MARIA VG was the shifting of the liquefied cargo of ilmenite clay. The moisture content of the cargo clearly exceeded its TML value of 22,7%, which was determined during the investigations for this cargo parcel. The Shipper of the cargo had never determined the TML value for the cargo.

B4/2000M Report (pdf, 0.45 Mt)