MOL Comfort

General maritime and engineering discussion occurs on this board. Feel free to post newsbits, comments, ask questions about maritime matters and post your opinions.
Post Reply
JFC
Mechanic
Posts: 58
Joined: Sun Dec 13, 2009 12:00 pm

MOL Comfort

Post by JFC »

The MOL Comfort has broken in half and sank. This ship was only 8 years old...........

http://www.maritime-executive.com/artic ... 013-06-17/

Talk about having a bad day.......
User avatar
JK
Enduring Contributor
Posts: 3066
Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2007 2:29 am
Currently located: East Coast, Canada
Contact:

Re: MOL Comfort

Post by JK »

This ship had just gone thru the 5 year survey by Class, 3 weeks prior to this accident.


Lloyds Loading List lunchtime report states:-

A Mitsui OSK Lines boxship reported sunk yesterday is apparently still afloat, having broken in two on high seas some 200 miles from Yemen, according to an Indian Coast Guard official.
Many of the 4,372 boxes on board MOL Comfort remain on the split vessel, although some have fallen in the sea, according to Mumbai operations unit commandant Rama Rao.
Rao said MOL-owned car carrier Sanderling Ace was at the site monitoring the situation but that the seas were still too high, with swells of 5 m-6 m, to determine the extent of any fuel oil spill.
MOL has now confirmed that the ship’s fore and aft sections have separated. The fore part of the hull is drifting at around 013º00´N, 60º40´E, and the aft part is some 19 miles southwest of it.
Both parts of the ship are laden with containers and drifting in an east-northeast direction. We are also arranging tugboats to tow both parts,” MOL said in a statement.
It said it was seeking to confirm details of containers lost overboard or damaged during the incident.
The 2008-built, 8,110 teu MOL Comfort, owned and operated by MOL on Loop 1 of the G6 alliance’s Asia-north Europe service, was sailing from Singapore to Jeddah at about 0700 hrs local time when the casualty occurred at 012° 33´N, 59° 46´E.
Water pouring into the hold forced the 26 crew to take to the lifeboats. All were rescued by the 2002-built, 7,506 teu containership Yantian Express, owned by Hapag Lloyd and bound for Colombo.
Rao said that having been alerted by Singapore-based MOL’s operations division yesterday, the coastguard diverted ships to the site of the casualty, more than 800 miles west of Mumbai.
He said it was fortunate for the crew that the casualty happened near a busy shipping lane, allowing them to be rescued quickly.
According to Lloyd’s List Intelligence, the Bahamas-flagged, 86,692 gt containership was built in Japan by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Nagasaki.
The vessel’s P&I insurance is covered by Japan Shipowners Mutual Protection and it is classed by Japan-based ClassNK.
Responding to questions from sister publication Lloyd’s List, the classification society issued a brief statement, saying it had “set up an investigation team in Tokyo and is working on the incident. The details are yet to be known to us”.
Attachments
STERN%20HALF.jpg
FWD%20HALF.jpg
JFC
Mechanic
Posts: 58
Joined: Sun Dec 13, 2009 12:00 pm

Re: MOL Comfort

Post by JFC »

Wikipedia reports......

"Together with her sister ships, MOL Comfort was the first container ship classified by Nippon Kaiji Kyokai to utilize ultra high-strength steel with an yield strength of 470 MPa in her hull structure"
User avatar
JollyJack
Fleet Engineer
Posts: 1184
Joined: Wed Mar 24, 2010 3:57 am
Currently located: Eastern Canada
Contact:

Re: MOL Comfort

Post by JollyJack »

A Class survey doesn't always mean the vessel is seaworthy, only that there was enough Johnnie Walker and Marlborough aboard.
Discourage incest, ban country "music".
User avatar
JK
Enduring Contributor
Posts: 3066
Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2007 2:29 am
Currently located: East Coast, Canada
Contact:

Re: MOL Comfort

Post by JK »

Such a heart warming thought as Canada rushes down the road to Class....
User avatar
The Dieselduck
Administrator
Posts: 4131
Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2007 1:41 pm
Currently located: Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada (West Coast of Canada)
Contact:

Re: MOL Comfort

Post by The Dieselduck »

This is not a mickey mouse operation, these are some big names in shipping.... yikes.
Martin Leduc
Certified Marine Engineer and Webmaster
Martin's Marine Engineering Page
http://www.dieselduck.net
User avatar
JK
Enduring Contributor
Posts: 3066
Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2007 2:29 am
Currently located: East Coast, Canada
Contact:

Re: MOL Comfort

Post by JK »

Looks like they are going to have a good look at the other ships of that design:
loyds Loading List -

Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) has decided to carry out further inspections over six sister vessels of MOL Comfort, the five-year-old containership that split in two off Yeman last week.
The ships’ class society, ClassNK, and shipbuilder Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will arrange inspection with MOL when the vessels call at ports on their trading routes.
Those examinations are to come after initial inspections that have been carried out by crew members during navigations. MOL has also started precautionary measures to reduce the stress on the hulls as an “interim contingency plan”, the company said in a statement.
The Japanese carrier declined to comment on details of the inspections, which it expected to cause no or limited disruption to its services.
The six sister vessels, all of which are operated by MOL, include MOL Creation, MOL Charisma, MOL Celebration, MOL Courage and MOL Competence, five 8,110teu, vessels built with Sulzer engines during 2007-2008.
The sixth is MOL Commitment, a vessel delivered earlier this year. It has a similar design to the other five, but can carry 8,540teu.
Back in 2007, the vessels were the first in the world to use high tensile strength steel, which was supposed to enhance the reliability of hull structures against brittle fractures through reduced plate thickness, according to a MHI report.
However, the incident has raised doubts over the yard’s design and construction procedures. Before 2007, the largest boxship that MHI’s Nagasaki yard had ever built was of 6,208 teu, Clarksons data shows.
The carrier’s move comes amid calls to review the structural design of MOL Comfort and its sister vessels or even to halt the latters’ operations as precautions to preserve maritime safety.
In an open letter to Iran, Yemen, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, India, Japan, Egypt, and the Bahamas, where MOL Comfort was flagged, Robin des Bois asked the authorities to temporarily suspend the sister ships from navigating in their exclusive economic zones.
“The ships regularly navigate through the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Suez Canal, Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic Ocean, North Sea, and Baltic Sea,” the French environmentalist group said.
“Concerning aviation, if an incident arises on a recently built airplane, the entire series would be immobilized until the cause of the problem is identified and remediation measures are implemented,” said the letter, apparently referring to the Japanese airlines’ decision to ground their Dreamliner fleets after battery issues earlier this year.
As of late Monday, the fore and aft parts of MOL Comfort were drifting in the Indian Ocean near 15’25”N 67’53”E and 13’48”N 64’50”E, respectively, heading in an east-northeast direction. The weather at the site is still adverse.
One patrol boat and three tugboats have arrived at the site, while a sixth vessel is expected to join the salvage operations on Wednesday.
No oil film is seen around the two parts of the vessel. MOL confirmed the majority of 4,372 boxes it was carrying remain onboard.
Bilge_Rat
Bilge Dweller
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2012 5:55 pm
Contact:

Re: MOL Comfort

Post by Bilge_Rat »

Very glad to hear the crew is OK...
Big Pete
Engineering Mentor
Posts: 902
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 11:18 pm
Currently located: Solihull, England
Contact:

Re: MOL Comfort

Post by Big Pete »

Metal fatigue??

B.P.
It is always better to ask a stupid question than to do a stupid thing.
User avatar
JollyJack
Fleet Engineer
Posts: 1184
Joined: Wed Mar 24, 2010 3:57 am
Currently located: Eastern Canada
Contact:

Re: MOL Comfort

Post by JollyJack »

I suspect scantlings. I hear the paint thickness is included in plate scantlings now to save steel costs.
Discourage incest, ban country "music".
User avatar
JK
Enduring Contributor
Posts: 3066
Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2007 2:29 am
Currently located: East Coast, Canada
Contact:

Re: MOL Comfort

Post by JK »

The stern sank in 4000m of water when a hatch failed on June 27. The bow is under tow.
They are towing the bow section with the bukhead forward and when the Kurdistan broke in the Gulf of St Lawrence over 30 years ago, they towed the same way. Must be more stable.

http://gcaptain.com/comfort-images
User avatar
JK
Enduring Contributor
Posts: 3066
Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2007 2:29 am
Currently located: East Coast, Canada
Contact:

Re: MOL Comfort

Post by JK »

After being afire since July 8, the bow section sunk early this AM in 3000m of water.
Post Reply