Nautilus urges seafarers serving on large container ships to carry out checks on the shell plates of their vessels following the initial results of an investigation into the loss of a five-year-old vessel that split apart in the Indian Ocean in July.
The Japanese transport ministry and the classification society ClassNK have been looking into the causes of the catastrophic structural failure of the 8110 teu MOL Comfort during a voyage from Singapore to Jeddah with 4372 boxes onboard.
Buckling-Type Deformations
Investigators said the preliminary findings suggest the fracture in the MOL Comfort’s hull originated from the bottom part of the vessel and during checks on sister ships buckling-type deformations measuring approximately 20 mm in height were discovered on the bottom shell plates, in the vicinity of centre line of midship area.
ClassNK said it remains unclear at this stage whether this type of deformation could have served as a trigger for the casualty. Reinforcement work to increase the hull strength of the sister vessels is already being carried out as a preventative safety measure.
Inspect the Midship Section
But, based on the preliminary findings, ClassNK recommends that seafarers on large container ships inspect the midship section ‘to the extent possible in order to determine whether deformations have occurred on the bottom shell plates’.
If consecutive deformations in the transverse direction are observed on the bottom shell plates an occasional survey is recommended, it added.
