船舶燃油泄漏事故调查报告 - 码头碰撞导致货舱受损 - 常规

Upon receiving the inspection assignment, our inspectors immediately rushed to the dock and boarded the mentioned vessel at around 21:10 that evening. After boarding, we first talked to the crew and dock personnel to understand the details of the accident, and then proceeded to inspect the condition of the vessel and cargo in the hold. We found the following:

According to the dock personnel, the accident occurred at around 16:43 this afternoon, and their surveillance video recorded the process of the incident. The dock claims that the accident was caused by the grab colliding with the sloping plate of the No. 2S fuel tank. However, the dock personnel refused to provide us with the video footage. The dock stated that about 1,000 tons of cargo had been unloaded from hold 5 at the time of the accident, leaving approximately 9,800 tons remaining. All contaminated cargo has not been unloaded from the ship.
The dock personnel verbally acknowledged their responsibility but refused to sign the stevedore damage report and LOP (Letter of Protest) from the ship. The dock has also not reported the incident to the Maritime Safety Administration (MSA) and its liability insurance company.
According to the crew, the vessel berthed at S5 berth at 12:12 today and started unloading at 15:25. After noticing the fuel leakage, the crew immediately started adjusting the trim of the vessel. As the damage was located at the left rear of the No. 2S fuel tank, the crew adjusted the trim to make the vessel lean forward to the right as much as possible. They also started the oil transfer pump to transfer the fuel from the No. 2S tank to the No. 3P tank. The leakage eventually stopped at 17:40. The captain estimated the amount of leakage to be approximately 100 cubic meters. During this period, the vessel arranged refueling operations, with approximately 200 tons of fuel added to the No. 1S tank. The final quantity of refueling is yet to be determined.
When we arrived at the scene, the contaminated grab had already been moved to the shore. The surface of the grab was covered with fuel. The dock personnel claimed that the collision occurred on the top beam of the grab, but due to the positioning, we were unable to see any collision marks.
No sea surface pollution was observed at the scene.
We entered the hold to inspect the damaged areas of the vessel and the contamination of the cargo. We observed a hole of approximately 150mm at the junction of the right side hatch coaming and the sloping plate of hold No. 5. There were obvious signs of leakage nearby. The cargo directly below the hole was contaminated by fuel, and there were grooves formed by liquid scouring on the surface of the cargo. The fuel had been absorbed by the cargo, and no flowing fuel was observed at the scene. A rough estimate suggests that the affected surface area is approximately 30 square meters. The quantity of affected cargo at the bottom is temporarily unable to be estimated.
Regarding the repair of the vessel's damage, the dock has started consulting a repair company. Since the damage is located in the fuel tank, cleaning and gas-free testing are required before replacing and repairing the plates. The repair is expected to take one week.
Regarding the handling of the cargo, the dock personnel expressed their desire to unload the cargo to the shore first and then arrange personnel to board the vessel to repair the damaged areas. Currently, the dock has not provided a specific plan for the disposal of contaminated cargo. Considering the possibility of further spreading of fuel at the bottom, we recommend unloading the unaffected cargo from the ship as soon as possible. To prevent mixing of the cargo, we suggest sending someone to supervise the unloading operations. For the affected cargo, we advise the dock to prepare feasible plans to prevent secondary pollution accidents.

We will continue to stay on board to assist the captain in dealing with the incident and collect relevant documents for defense purposes. We will closely monitor the progress of the event and report in a timely manner. If there are further instructions, please feel free to contact us.