[討論]Cracked cylinder liner behind Alaska tragedy

Dry Cargo By Marcus Hand in Singapore- Tuesday December 14 2004 A CRACKED cylinder liner began the tragic train of events that led to the loss of the IMC bulker Selendang Ayu off Alaska and six seafarers dying in a daring rescue operation, Lloyd』s List can reveal. While the exact cause of the engine failure which resulted in the tragedy remains unknown, IMC managing director Peter Chew said the crew had shut down the engine to repair a cylinder liner crack and to stop water from getting into the engine. Why the engine could not be restarted is not known. The engine』s makers, MAN B&W, were contacted during in the operation. With the bulker having no power, a line from a tug, which held for 12 hours, eventually snapped in heavy seas and ship was dashed on rocks. A master mariner told Lloyd』s List that a cracked cylinder liner could greatly reduce the speed of ship and, in heavy seas such as those experienced by Selendang Ayu, could have reduced it to almost zero. Replacing the cylinder lining requires the engine to be stopped in operation that should take seven or eight hours. The engine is understood to be a MAN B&W 6S60MC slow speed engine, manufactured under licence at Hudong Shipyard in China, the Selendang Ayu』s builder. Improving weather conditions on Sunday yesterday allowed a US Coast Guard helicopter to get a salvage team on the ship. 「The team was not able to get on to the bow half of the freighter, but was able to access most of the stern half,」 the USCG said. The USCG said that five of six accessible cargo holds had been breached and that three cargo holds containing the cargo of soybeans and the stern fuel tank all had small breaches. One hold appeared to be intact. Mr Chew said that the USCG had reported oil was coming out of tank number two, which contained about 40,000 gallons of fuel oil of the 450,000 gallons onboard. The bulker was carrying 1,595 tonnes of intermediate fuel oil and 70 tonnes of diesel. The USCG reported that salvage experts on an overflight on Sunday estimate that there are less than 2,100 gallons of oil visible from the air. A salvage master has been appointed by the vessel』s P&I Club, the Swedish Club, and Mr Chew said: 「All the experts are there now.」 However, until Sunday, weather conditions had made it impossible to work on the vessel itself. 「We are very thankful that we finally have a good day to start getting things done,」 said USCG Captain Ron Morris. As to whether the vessel, which was sailing from Tacoma to China, could have taken a more southerly route rather than the Baring Strait in winter, Mr Chew said that this was decided by an ocean routing firm as the vessel was on charter. He noted that about 2,000 vessels a year pass through the strait. The six missing crew members plunged into the sea when a USCG helicopter flying them to safety crashed at about 1815 hrs local time on Wednesday. The search for the men was called off on Friday night with no hope left of finding survivors in waters of just six degrees centigrade. 「The experts say that three hours is the maximum time people will last in these waters,」 Mr Chew said. However, efforts will continue to recover the bodies of the men. 「The coast guard has promised to be vigilant for the bodies,」 he said. - The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation has set up a website to carry up-to-date information on the Selendang Ayu grounding, writes David Osler . However, the site will not cover issues relating to the loss of the USCG helicopter and the missing personnel. The address is http://www.state.ak.us 資料來源：LLOYD'S LIST DAILY NEWS BULLETIN