Marine

Citation

(2003), "Marine", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 12 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2003.07312bac.002

Marine

Marine

10 May 2003 – Kristal (Malta)

More than 14 months after tank Kristal broke in two with the loss of 11 lives, the Malta Maritime Authority has finished its investigation into the tragedy and sent copies of its draft report to "interested parties". Families of the seafarers who died in the casualty, including two from northern Spain, have criticised the delay and the lack of official information. But one investigator yesterday defended the process, though he conceded that it had dragged on. "The causes were known early on but no one finished the report," he said. "It has taken a long time, but it is very hard when a vessel has sunk." The development comes as the International Transport Workers' Federation complained to the Maltese government that it has not been provided with a copy of the report, even though it is representing injured crewmen and families of the dead seafarers in a legal action for negligence against the vessel's operator, IC Shipping. The international union has also been refused official access to an earlier report prepared by Spanish maritime authorities, who at one point went as far as denying it even existed. That investigation concluded that incorrect loading of a cargo of molasses, coupled with adverse weather and the way the vessel was handled, were key factors that caused the vessel to break in two off La Corunna. Sources who have seen Malta's draft report say the flag state's investigators have reached similar conclusions. "It is a straightforward, very technical report that does not pin the blame on anyone," said one, though he added the document was still at draft stage and could change. The draft report, he said, did not appear to address the crucial question of why, assuming the theory is correct, the vessel was badly loaded in the first place and why no one picked up the mistake. A spokesman for the Maltese authority said the draft report would be circulated to interested parties for comment and declined to give details. "At the moment those are the only people who will see it," he said. The negligence action will be brought by the ITF against IC Shipping on behalf of two injured crewmen and the families of seven Pakistani seafarers who died in the casualty. The ITF, which has secured hull insurance funds as security against the negligence claim, alleges that the vessel was in poor physical condition and that IC Shipping failed in many of its responsibilities towards the crew. But the Monaco management company of the Kristal strongly rejects the allegations and says a number of "unfortunate" circumstances contributed to the loss of the vessel early last year. The legal action will probably be heard in Malta, though no dates have been set. The families of two Spanish seafarers lost in the casualty have settled their compensation claims with the operator's P&I club and have stepped back from the negligence case.

15 May 2002 – Kursk (Russia)

Bad weather has delayed the departure of Russian salvage vessels, due to undertake their final expedition to raise the remains of nuclear submarine Kursk. The 24-hour delay means they are now expected to leave the naval port of Severomorsk tomorrow. The bulk of the submarine was recovered last autumn, but the nose, which housed the torpedoes, was left on the seabed, as it was considered to be too unstable to raise. Work to lift the fragments from the Barents Sea is expected to begin on 20 May and is expected to last for at least two weeks. Russian crews, using unmanned submersibles, will bring up the final remnants of Kursk from the sea bed. After the bulk of Kursk was raised, the wreckage was sent to the Nerpa ship repair plant in the town of Snezhnogorsk for dismantling.

24 May 2002 – Russian navy officials said today that a gale in the Barents Sea, not money shortages, delayed an operation to raise fragments of the mangled bow of nuclear submarine Kursk, and pledged to carry it out next month. Some Russian media have claimed that the operation, which was scheduled to begin Monday (20 May), was put off because the government had failed to allocate the necessary funds. The navy chief, Admiral Vladimir Kuroyedov, dismissed the allegations as "nonsense" and said the salvage effort will begin as soon as rough seas calm, the Interfax-Military news agency reported. The Northern Fleet chief, Admiral Gennady Suchkov, said the operation would start in early June and focus on raising fragments of exploded torpedo and torpedo tubes. "With these components of the submarine raised, the picture of the tragedy should become completely clear," Interfax quoted Suchkov as saying.

17 June 2002 – The Russian navy has lifted a large fragment of the nose section of the nuclear submarine Kursk from the floor of the Barents Sea, officials said today. The section, which weighed 5 tons, was recovered last week using remote-controlled equipment, Northern Fleet spokesman Captain Vadim Serga said. Other wreckage, including part of a torpedo tube and a high-pressure air cylinder, were raised earlier, Serga said. The navy hopes that the Kursk's nose section will help shed light on the disaster's cause. Officials initially said the sinking might have been caused by a collision with a western submarine, but have since pointed at a flawed practice torpedo as the most likely cause. The navy has already ordered such weapons removed from service, but the government has not offered a final conclusion about what caused the practice torpedo to explode, detonating other weapons in the bow.

19 June 2002 – A senior Russian minister has finally cleared NATO or any foreign vessels of sinking Russia's nuclear submarine Kursk two years ago, admitting a faulty torpedo was to blame. "There remains only one version, a torpedo blast," Ilya Klebanov, who chairs an official investigation into the disaster in which 118 crew members died, said in comments on RTR television. "The commission has discounted a collision and a mine," said the trade, science and technology minister, writing a line under a disaster that shocked Russia and jolted the young presidency of Vladimir Putin. The Klebanov Commission report is expected later this year into Russia's worst peacetime naval catastrophe. Confirming the work of western analysts, navy chief Admiral Vladimir Kuroyedov pointed his finger at a torpedo fault in February, saying the model used by the Kursk was being withdrawn. Suspicions have focused on the weapon's unstable propeller. Klebanov said the commission had told navy chiefs to stop trying to raise more of the Kursk's front section, which was left on the seabed last year when the bulk of the shattered vessel was raised. He said there was no need to raise anything else from the seabed for the investigation. Dismantling the vessel, which was armed with nuclear-capable cruise missiles, will take the final bill of the operation to about $130m, a significant sum for Russia's much-reduced naval budget. In total, 115 bodies have been identified and buried in two recovery operations. The remaining three are believed to be mutilated beyond recognition.

1 July 2002 – A Russian government commission has concluded that volatile fuel used in a torpedo caused an explosion on board the nuclear submarine Kursk in August 2000 that killed all 118 seamen on board, Interfax reported. The report concludes a two-year investigation into the disaster, the worst peacetime accident to have affected the Russian military. "There was a fire following a thermal explosion" of elements of the torpedo fuel, which was made out of hydrogen peroxide, a fuel long ago abandoned by NATO, commission member Valery Dorogin was quoted as saying by Interfax. "After that, the entire stock of ammunition (on board the Kursk) went off," Mr Dorogin said, adding that the initial explosion occurred in the front section of the submarine. "After the first explosion, everyone who was in the first (front) sector of the submarine died," Mr Dorogin said. "The second explosion caused the destruction of the rest of the vessel," he said. The Russian navy finished its retrieval operation of the last Kursk fragments in the Barents Sea last week. Experts have been dismantling and exploding parts of the craft, including its seven remaining torpedoes and the active parts of its nuclear reactor. Mr Dorogin said the government commission has decided to explode all remaining fragments of the vessel.

26 July 2002 – Russia's top prosecutor said today that leaking torpedo propellant caused the explosion that sank nuclear submarine Kursk nearly two years ago, killing its 118-man crew. He said no one was to blame and no charges would be filed. Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinovalso defended the Kremlin's handling of the rescue efforts and said no evidence was found to back up allegations that a collision with a western submarine or a Second World War mine could have been at fault. Ustinov said all the seamen on board died within eight hours of the submarine sinking on 12 August 2000, long before any help could arrive. When the navy located the submarine on the seabed some 30 hours after the catastrophe, "there was already no chance to save anyone," he said at a news conference. Ustinov spoke after reporting his verdict to President Vladimir Putin, saying the accident had been triggered by a leak of highly unstable hydrogen peroxide that exploded after contact with kerosene and the metal body of the torpedo. A government commission had previously pointed at a leaky torpedo as the only possible cause. "The investigators have decided to close the criminal case since no evidence of a crime has been found," Ustinov said. "Those who designed the torpedo couldn't foresee the possibility of its explosion." After the bulk of the Kursk was hoisted from the seabed by an international rescue team in October, dozens of prosecutors studied the corpses for clues to the disaster. They recovered the remains of 115 of the 118 seamen on board. The Russian navy has withdrawn from service all torpedoes of the type that exploded.

15 May 2002 – Maria Carmela (Philippines)

The owners and crew of Philippine ferry Maria Carmela, which caught fire and sank last month killing an estimated 74 people, may be prosecuted for negligence, the government officials said. A fact-finding committee investigating the 11 April fire on the ferry has recommended the filing of criminal and civil charges against the owners and surviving crewmen as well as revoking the vessel's licence, Transport Department spokesman Oscar Sevilla said. "Negligence and omission of the crew on the safety of passengers was part of the unofficial report that I have," said Mr Sevilla, administrator of the Maritime Industry Authority, Monday. The probe body recommended the "filing of criminal and civil charges" against the crew and owner of the vessel, as well as "the possible revocation of the franchise," he added. The Coast Guard said 44 bodies were recovered while 30 other people were missing, presumed dead.

15 May 2002 – A Special Board of Marine Inquiry investigating the recent burning and sinking of the passenger ferry Maria Carmela concluded its investigation last week and is recommending the filing of criminal, civil and administrative charges against the owner and officers of the vessel. The seven-man board likewise proposed the cancellation of the Maria Carmela's franchise as well as the "seaman's books" of the vessel's master, chief mate, engineer, fourth engineer and electrician. The board also recommended that the crew be suspended for at least a year. Also found liable was Montenegro Shipping, owner of Maria Carmela. The board said that Montenegro Shipping "miserably failed in its responsibility and obligation to ensure the safe operation of a public conveyance vessel". The board said that the crew lacked sufficient training in handling emergency situations. The disorganised behaviour of the crew revealed their non-familiarity with the proper procedures on fire fighting. The company also employed "unqualified and incompetent safety and quality assurance officers". Survivors claimed that no alarm was sounded and they were left to fend for themselves as the crew were among the first to abandon ship. Findings also showed that the vessel only had two licensed engineers on board instead of the necessary four. There was also no radio officer in the crew. According to the board, these were considered violations of manning or crew requirements.

26 May 2002 – Robert Y. Love (USA)

A barge hit an interstate bridge over the Arkansas River during a storm today, collapsing a 500ft section of roadway and sending more than a dozen vehicles plunging into the water, with people trapped inside, authorities said. Officials expected to find five to 12 bodies in the submerged vehicles, once the area was safe for divers to begin searching. Cranes were working to stabilize the remaining bridge sections this afternoon, said Rebecca Smith, a spokeswoman for Muskogee County Emergency Management Services. At least five people were hospitalised, including some who had been rescued by boatmen who alerted authorities to the bridge collapse shortly before 0800 hrs. Josef Blann, a diver with the Marine Corps Reserve said authorities believed 15 vehicles went into the river, including 12 cars, two tractor-trailer rigs and a horse trailer. Rescue crews, in boats, moved along the river this afternoon, picking up floating pieces of car seats, clothing and diapers. Huge slabs of concrete, where the west side of the bridge gave way, slumped in the water close to the river's edge. A pickup truck rested on top of one section of collapsed concrete at the west end of the bridge, which rested on the embankment. The driver had slammed on his brakes when he noticed the bridge was gone, authorities said. Both eastbound and westbound sections of the Interstate 40 bridge, about 75ft above the Arkansas River, collapsed, pinning the barge beneath it. Shane Guthrie, personnel manager for Magnolia Marine Transport Co. in Vicksburg, Missouri, said the company's 104ft-long tug Robert Y. Love (252gt, built 1955), was pushing two barges when the accident occurred. None of the seven people on the barge was injured, officials said. Lake patrol units were interviewing the master of the barge this morning and the National Transportation Safety Board was sending a team to investigate. It was not clear whether the storm and fast-moving river water contributed to the crash. A second nearby bridge also was hit this morning, but was still being used, although one of its pillars was damaged, Webbers Falls Mayor Jewell Horne said. It was not clear if the same barge hit both bridges. Both bridges are about 100 miles east of Oklahoma City and about 35 miles west of the Arkansas state line. Four people, injured in the collapse, were being treated today, at Muskogee Regional Hospital, all in a stable condition, administrator Ched Wetz said. A fifth person was taken to Sequoyah Memorial Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The bridge normally has heavy traffic, said Highway Patrol Sgt Jarrett Johnson. It is the main interstate that travels east and west through the state of Oklahoma.

27 May 2002 – Up to 20 people are feared drowned and rescuers hold little hope of finding any more survivors after a barge pushed by tug Robert Y. Love demolished part of a highway bridge in eastern Oklahoma, sending about ten cars into a river. Divers were due to begin search operations in the Arkansas River. Emergency crews have spent the past few hours securing the barge, which knocked down a 180m section of the bridge. Conflicting reports say four or five people were rescued and taken to hospital soon after the accident, which happened near the town of Sallisaw. One of the survivors is in a critical condition. Lieutenant Chris West, of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, said five people were rescued after falling into the river in three vehicles. He said divers were about to go into the section of the river where the vehicles were. "We are concerned over the structural integrity of the bridge," he said. "Recovery operations could begin late tonight or tomorrow," he said, likening the extent of the damage to "something caused by an earthquake." The National Transportation Safety Board will lead an investigation into the disaster. Investigators were on their way from Dallas in Texas, Memphis in Tennessee and from Washington. Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating believed the captain of Robert Y. Love pushing the barge on the river fell ill. "Apparently he suffered a seizure or something behind the wheel." Oklahoma Highway Patrol spokesman Brandon Kopepasah said: "The barge was travelling in a straight direction then veered off to the right." The waterway is now closed to traffic and the bridge is expected to be out of use for six months.

27 May 2002 – Rescue workers removed a fourth body from a submerged pile of mangled vehicles today as they searched for more victims from a line of cars that plunged into the Arkansas River after a barge being towed by tug Robert Y. Love struck a bridge, toppling a large section of the span. Police said they recovered three bodies last night and expect to find more from a spot where they estimate as many as a dozen vehicles plunged about 100ft into the river yesterday when the barge hit and caused a 500ft section of the Interstate 40 bridge to collapse. The bodies of two women and one man, yet to be identified, have been removed from the scene. The captain of the empty oil barge apparently passed out at the controls after suffering a seizure and slammed into an unprotected part of the bridge, causing a massive section to give way, police said. Police said tests on him for drugs and alcohol were negative. Coast Guard Lieutenant Natalie Magnino said her agency wants to open the river to commercial traffic soon but is not sure when the current six-mile exclusion zone up and down river from the bridge will be removed. Once the recovery efforts are over and authorities are certain of the stability of the bridge and that there are no impediments in the channel, then river traffic should resume. A highway engineer at the site told reporters it would likely take six months to repair the bridge.

28 May 2002 – Accounts by crew members of tug Robert Y. Love of the moments before a barge rammed a highway bridge support the theory that the boat's pilot blacked out, an investigator said today. The accident killed at least nine people whose vehicles plunged from the damaged bridge into the Arkansas River. George Black of the US National Transportation Safety Board said a crewman who visited Captain Joe Dedmon five to ten minutes before Sunday's (26 May) accident said everything seemed normal. Dedmon, who was to be interviewed later today, tested negative for drugs and alcohol. He was hospitalised yesterday pending more tests. Late yesterday, crews pulled three more bodies from the murky river with the help of sonar and a large crane. That brought the number of confirmed deaths to seven, with an unknown number of people still missing. The bridge received a blow from the 490ft barge, which was moving upstream at 5 mph.

28 May 2002 – Rescuers hoisted two vehicles with four bodies inside from the murky Arkansas River today, bringing the death toll from the collapse of an interstate bridge to 13. Lightning, rain and rising waters hampered the rescuers, who picked their way through the muddy water searching for an unknown number of people still missing. The bodies of seven women and six men have been recovered from the waters below the ridge, Lieutenant Chris West of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said. With the help of sonar, a crane had hoisted ten vehicles from the pile of mangled concrete and twisted steel. A champion horse trainer and a police detective were among those believed to have died, family members said. Gail Shanahan, 49, was returning to Texas with another horse trainer, Maggie Green, when their truck and a trailer hauling four horses plunged off the bridge, family members said. Searchers have pulled three horses out of the river. A former Texas Youth Rodeo champion, Shanahan trained horses for barrel racing. Earlier today, an investigator said tug Robert Y. Love crew members' accounts support the towboat company's contention that the pilot had blacked out. George Black of the National Transportation Safety Board said a crewman who visited with Captain Joe Dedmon five to ten minutes before the accident said everything seemed normal. Others who were not with the Captain said they heard no alarm or change in the sound of the engine that would indicate he was trying to avoid a crash, Black said. Dedmon, who tested negative for drugs and alcohol, was to be interviewed by NTSB investigators later today. His brother, Ray Dedmon of Raymond, Missouri, said the Captain has never had seizures or similar medical conditions to cause him to pass out. Investigators were also trying to determine whether there was anything wrong with the 35-year-old bridge that might have caused it to collapse. Steve Tipton, a University of Tulsa engineering professor, said the impact of the collision would have been roughly equivalent to 62 2,000-pound cars slamming into the structure simultaneously at 60mph.

29 May 2002 – It may take six months and $15 million to rebuild the Interstate 40 bridge near Webbers Falls. "This is the worst tragedy ever bestowed upon the Department of Transportation in history," said Gary Ridley, state transportation director. "We're going to work diligently to ensure the bridge is back open as quickly as possible." While four spans of the bridge will have to be replaced, Bruce Taylor, the state's chief engineer, said the other nine spans of the bridge appear to be sound. "We tested the remainder of the bridge Sunday," Taylor said. "We feel very confident that the damage does not go beyond the channel where the barges hit." More thorough testing will occur after demolition is completed. This phase of testing will include "sounding" to detect any structural deficiencies, Ridley said. To get repairs rolling, Taylor said, the agency will dip into reserves to deal with the emergency; it has also contacted the Federal Highway Administration to obtain federal monetary help. Transportation officials said yesterday they also may seek compensation from the tug's owners. Virginia Miller, spokeswoman for the tug's owner's, Magnolia Marine Transport Co. of Vicksburg, Missouri, said the National Transportation Safety Board is not allowing the company to talk about the incident. "It's not a company that shirks its responsibility," Miller said. "I know the company is cooperating 100 per cent and will continue to do that." State engineers are delaying more intense structural testing while the Oklahoma Highway Patrol continues searching through the water to recover bodies and vehicles that plunged from the bridge into the water. A first step after the recovery phase is completed will be to send divers into the water to inspect damage and debris left in the area when the bridge was hit. Before repair work can begin, however, the damaged piers and other debris will have to be removed. The entire bridge spanning 1,980ft will be thoroughly inspected, Taylor said.

29 May 2002 – The death toll from the highway bridge collapse climbed to 14 today when the body of a three-year-old girl was found floating in the Arkansas River a half-mile downstream. After the girl's body was recovered, authorities called off the search, saying they believed they had found all the victims and vehicles in the water. The Army Corps of Engineers and the Coast Guard planned to leave the area, but divers would be called back if more vehicles or bodies were found under the concrete and debris during the salvage operation. The captain of the towboat that was pushing the barge has told investigators he blacked out before the crash.

30 May 2002 – The search for victims of an interstate bridge collapse was called off after the body of a missing three-year-old girl was found floating in the Arkansas River, bringing the toll to 14. As the recovery turned to a salvage effort yesterday, transportation officials used the giant claw of a crane to hoist chunks of concrete and twisted metal from the muddy, green river. "They have exhausted every hot spot," said Lieutenant Brandon Kopepasah of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. He said he did not believe there were any more bodies or cars in the water under the Interstate 40 bridge. Still, divers planned to stand by in case sonar detected anything.

5 June 2002 – Oklahoma's attorney general is suing the captain of tug Robert Y. Love and two companies over a barge crash that brought down an interstate highway bridge and killed 14 people whose vehicles plunged into the river below. The lawsuit, filed yesterday, accuses Captain William Joe Dedmon, Magnolia Marine Transport Co. and Ergon Inc. of negligence. Tug Robert Y. Love was pushing two barges up the Arkansas River on 26 May when one of the barges hit the Interstate 40 bridge in eastern Oklahoma, knocking down more than 500ft of roadway and sending ten vehicles into the water. Dedmon, who has been hospitalised for heart troubles, told investigators he blacked out just before the collision. The National Transportation Safety Board said Dedmon had slept less than ten hours in the two days preceeding the accident but told investigators he was not tired while steering the vessel. Magnolia of Vicksburg, Missouri, owns the tug and employs Dedmon, and Ergon owns the barges, according to Attorney General Drew Edmondson's office. Magnolia has filed a court petition in Jackson, Miss., asking a judge to limit its civil liability for the crash to $1.2m.

9 June 2002 – Crews used torches to cut through metal in the collapsed Interstate 40 bridge yesterday, working quickly to make a Wednesday (12 June) demolition deadline. The state plans to hire a contractor by midweek to begin reconstructing the bridge that toppled into the Arkansas River last month, killing 14. "It's an unbelievable challenge," said Bruce Taylor, chief engineer for the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. Crews have to remove hundreds of tons of the damaged part of the bridge before contractors can rebuild a 500ft section of the span. Workers, hoisted into a crane basket, had stripped away much of the deck and were close to removing the skeletal steel beams yesterday. "Some debris is still floating to the surface," Taylor said. "Pieces of vehicles are still in the river. There's a set of axles from a truck that were picked up on sonar." The I-40 bridge could be repaired within 65 days and reopened by mid-August, transportation officials said.

22 July 2002 – The Arkansas River reopened to vessel traffic today, almost three weeks after a barge towed by tug Robert Y. Love crashed and brought down an interstate highway bridge, sending 14 people plunging to their deaths. Workers have cleared most of the bridge debris allowing the Coast Guard to reopen the river for commercial vessels, including five stalled barges, Petty Officer Kyle Niemi said. Meanwhile today, officials awarded Gilbert Central Corp, of Fort Worth, Texas, a $10.9m contract to repair the bridge by mid-August. Oklahoma has sued towboat Captain William Joe Dedmon and two companies, accusing Dedmon, Magnolia Marine Transport Co. and Ergon Inc. of negligence in the 26 May accident. Dedmon's towboat was pushing two barges up the Arkansas River when one of them hit the Interstate 40 bridge in eastern Oklahoma, knocking down more than 500ft of roadway and sending ten vehicles into the muddy water. Doctors treating Dedmon since the accident have diagnosed him with a rapid heartbeat, an ailment that can lead to unconsciousness, Dedmon's lawyer said today. Attorney General Drew Edmondson said a judge had granted the state's request prohibiting the two barges from being repaired or moved. The state wants the barges used as evidence in their lawsuit.

11 June 2002 – Express Samina (Greece)

A local press report, dated today states: The sinking of passenger ro/ro Express Samina, off Paros with the loss of 80 lives in September 2000, stemmed from the criminal negligence, incompetence and gross indifference of six crew members, a public prosecutor has found. Napoleon Pantioras, appeals court prosecutor for the Aegean, also says in a report to a council that he will file charges that the chairman of the MFD ship-owning company, Costas Klironomos, board member Nikos Vikatos and two inspectors should face misdemeanor charges for stating falsely that the vessel had sufficient lifejackets. Pantioras found the ferry was "marginally seaworthy". Captain Vassilis Yiannakis, he said, was not at his post as the vessel approached port in bad weather and had not ensured lifesaving equipment was sufficient. Duty Officer Tassos Psychoyios was also not on the bridge but in one of the lounges. No malice was involved, the prosecutor said.

15 July 2002 – Dystos (Greece)

The Piraeus Court of Appeal passed judgement on 15 July in the appeal case against the managers of Heraklis Shipping Co. and the vessel's class Hellenic Register in connection with the capsize and sinking of cement carrier Dystos at Kymi on 28 December 1996, where 20 of the crew lost their lives and only one was rescued. The case was in connection with the seaworthiness of the vessel and the three judges ruled that the ship-owning company and Hellenic Register were aware that the vessel had a crack in the hull and stability problems and as a result of these problems the capsize had occurred. The judges sentenced the manager of Heraklis, Captain Nikolas I. Mavros, a manager of Hellenic Register Mr Dionysis Melissinos and a surveyor of Hellenic Register Mr Dimitris I. Tolis to five years each. Acquitted were a former manager of Hellenic Register, Mr Triantafillos Lismachou and managers of Heraklis at the time: Mr Christos P. Mentzelopoulos, Mr Sotiris I. Papaspiliotopoulos, Mr Georgios A. Nicolopoulos, Mr Constantinos M. Ritsonis and Konstantinos I. Siavelis. Previously, the Piraeus Court of First Instance had sentenced Mr Mavros and Mr Melissinos to seven years and Mr Tolis to five years. The three have appealed for their case to be taken to the Supreme Court of Appeal, where the final decision will be made.

1 August 2002 – Mario (Sierra Leone)

"Indian" non-specific tanker Mario was sinking off the eastern coast of Sri Lanka this evening, but its crew managed to escape, official sources said in Colombo. "The crew abandoned the oil tanker and are heading towards Trincomalee by boat," they said. The tanker was last seen sinking about 80 nautical miles off Trincomalee. The Sri Lankan navy is assisting in the rescue operation, they said.

1 August 2002 – Non-specific tanker Mario sank off Trincomalee and all crew saved.

2 August 2002 – Non-specific tanker Mario sailed Chennai for east Asia when it hit tough tidal waves some 269km from Sri Lanka's eastern port district of Trincomalee yesterday. India's Coast Guard was searching today for the vessel, which is believed to be sinking off Sri Lanka's eastern coast with ten crew members on board, officials said. Indian officials, based in Colombo, said they believed all the crew members were safe, although the vessel had detected it was taking in water. Sri Lankan defence spokesman Sanath Karunaratne said the Indian Coast Guard had sent an aircraft to rescue the crew.

1 August 2002 – Ten persons from sinking non-specific tanker Mario abandoned ship in one life raft in latitude 10 01N, longitude 82 54E, at 0800, UTC, 1 August. Vessels in the vicinity are requested to keep a sharp lookout, assist if possible, reports to MRCC Chennai.

2 August 2002 – Ten sailors were feared dead today as they were forced to abandon their listing tanker Mario in rough seas off the eastern coast of Sri Lanka, defence sources said. They said India had dispatched a large ship towards the area to attempt a rescue operation but officials said the sailors who were on a life craft could not be spotted anywhere in the area. Sri Lankan Coast Guards were unable to even approach the vessel through most of today because bad whether had caused rough sees in the area. "Our priority right now is to look for the crew but the sea is really rough and they can't get to the sailors," military spokesman Brigadier Sanath Karunaratne said. The ten-crew members had jumped on to a life craft when the tanker began listing off the north-eastern port of Trincomalee.

3 August 2002 – Tanker Mario, Indonesia for Nagapattinam, cargo bulk palm oil, is registered in Freetown, Sierra Leone, official No. FNO06283, length 37.56m, owner P.T. Katimuri Marine. Ten crew, nine Indonesians and one from Singapore, still missing. Coast Guards are still searching with a vessel and an aircraft in the area.