M2017-03 MT Tecoil Po­laris (RUS) – En­vi­ron­men­tal ac­ci­dent in the port of Ham­ina, 25.11.2017

30.08.2018

MT Tecoil Polaris is classified by the Russian classification society (RS) and uses the Russian Federation flag. Tecoil Polaris was carrying a cargo of waste oil from Hull (United Kingdom) to Hamina. An expanded Port State Control, under the Paris MOU inspection system, was carried out in Hull. Six observations were issued to the vessel. The observations did not cause the vessel to be detained. They addressed the condition of, inter alia, the radio equipment, the magnetic compass, the fuel system and the causeway. The Port State inspection did not reveal any shortcomings in the vessel’s cargo-handling gear. The vessel did not have a fixed surface measurement system on board. Neither did it have a transferable surface level measuring system, which is the minimum requirement in the ISGOTT Guide (International Oil Tanker and Terminal Safety Guide). The system is not a requirement in the RS rules. The vessel had only an overflow alarm system.

Tecoil Polaris had a crew of 12. The master had 30 years of experience as master. The chief officer had 3 years of experience in his position and he was responsible for cargo handling. This was the first voyage with cargo on this vessel for the whole crew. In Hamina, the planning of the cargo discharging was challenging because there was no common language between the terminal and the ship. On top of that, it was the first unloading operation after a long docking.

Figure. Tank arrangement on M/T Tecoil Polaris. BT is a ballast water tank and CT is a cargo tank. (Photo: OTKES)

The plan was to unload the cargo in two batches. The vessel had been adjusted to an approximate-ly two-degree list to port, because the suction of the pumps is on the port side of the tanks. Discharging was started at 17.55 from tanks 7 and 8 by dropping the liquid surface by about one meter. This was done to prevent the overflows from tanks 7 and 8 that the increase in aft trim, caused by unloading from tanks 1 and 2, would cause. The discharging continued normally from tanks 1 and 2 until at 22.00 a bang was heard and a deckhand reported that oil was flowing out onto the deck from the manhole of cargo tank 6. The discharging was discontinued by stopping cargo pump 1. At the same time cargo pump 2 was started in order to lower the surface of the oil in cargo tank 6. A general alarm was issued on the vessel. Water was pumped, with the ballastwater pump, into ballast tank 4 SB, in order to level out the list. When the cargo surface in tank 6 had decreased to 4.5 m, the pump was stopped. Enough oil escaped onto the deck, that some of it flowed over the low gutter into the sea between the vessel and the pier. The vessel contacted STR Tecoil and, via the ship’s agent, the port. The vessel’s aft moorings were loosened for locating the oil spill. The crew began to gather the oil that had accumulated on deck.

The STR Tecoil supervisor contacted the port and then the STR Tecoil duty officer. After this, the supervisor requested the chief officer of the vessel to discontinue the unloading. Later it became clear that the discharging pump had not been stopped at that time, but that it was stopped only at 23.17. The STR Tecoil supervisor called for a vacuum truck to the quay at 22.26. At about 22.30, the vessel’s crew could level the vessel, and the oil spill into the sea ceased. There was oil on the vessel’s deck and floating between the vessel and the quay. Emergency services arrived on the scene at 23.20, and took over the management of oil spill response actions. Alerting from ship to shore took about an hour. The operation of the rescue authorities and the favourable wind direction limited the discharges to the areas adjacent to the vessel and pier.

In order to avoid similar accidents and to improve safety, the Safety Investigation Authority recommends, that:

• The Finnish Transport Safety Agency, as the Finnish public authority in the IMO, should act in order to supplement international agreements, so that the requirement concerning critical cargo handling equipment, such as cargo surface measurement systems, would be extended to include all oil- and chemicaltankers
• The International Association of Classification Societies, together with the classification societies, specifies the rules for the systems for cargo surface level measuring. Tankers must have appropriate systems for measuring the cargo surface level before they are granted temporary licences to start operating.

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