Loss Prevention Advice
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South Africa became the 17th signatory to the Jeddah Amendment to the Djibouti Code of Conduct (DCoC), as an effort to combat illicit marine activity.
The Jeddah Amendment was adopted in 2017 to broaden the scope of the DcoC, which was developed and adopted in 2009 by countries in the Western Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden as an important tool to combat piracy and armed robbery against ships in the region.
The 17 signatories are:
Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya, Madagascar, Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, United Republic of Tanzania and Yemen
The Jeddah Amendment covers measures for suppressing a range of illicit activities, including piracy, arms trafficking, trafficking in narcotics, illegal trade in wildlife, illegal oil bunkering, crude oil theft, human trafficking, human smuggling, and illegal dumping of toxic waste.
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This is a useful information and guidance on how to tackle and manage potential outbreak of infection on board.
An “outbreak”, in very simple terms is defined as prevalence of an infectious disease in a population. In the context of merchant ships, an outbreak is when multiple crew members are infected by the same infectious disease. In the confines of the onboard environment, infectious diseases can spread rapidly from one crew member to another.
Containing an outbreak may seem challenging, but the key is early detection, as it allows the onboard and onshore management to implement control measures in a timely manner. This can be achieved in three simple steps all of which must be set out in one way or another in vessel’s “Outbreak Management Plan” (OMP):
- Act early: How “early”, would depend on when the infection is detected and reported to senior management onboard. Once both the onboard and shore management is aware of the outbreak of infection, the shipboard OMP should be activated, and actions taken quickly. Getting the priorities right is important. To prevent exposure to other crew, it may be that isolation of infected crew members needs to be prioritized while waiting for guidance from medical experts. If that is the case, isolations will have to be managed with care as other crew will otherwise be hesitant to report their symptoms.
- Follow the plan: Broadly speaking, the OMP should cover the below mentioned five areas. It is important that crew members are familiar with the contents and requirements of the OMP for its quick and effective implementation.
- Managing infections and suspect cases onboard.
- Control measures to reduce exposure of uninfected crew. This will also include carrying and distribution of protective equipment.
- Handling ship-shore interactions.
- Reporting format to be used when contacting managers and port authorities.
- Testing and monitoring.
- 3. Monitor the situation: Once all the measures as highlighted in the OMP have been taken to contain the infection, management should continuously monitor the progress made in recovery of any infected crew and to ensure that uninfected crew do not show any symptoms of the infection. Detailed medical logs as directed by a shore doctor will have to be maintained. As a minimum the treatment administered, and vitals of infected crew must be recorded.
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On April 16th a fire broke out in the cargo hold of a CMA CGM containership off Malaysia, while the 9,452-teu vessel was en route from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia to Port Klang.
As of now, an investigation is under way and according to the company the fire is under control.
There have been no reports of injuries, and the vessel is proceeding to Port Klang for further assessment.
CMA CGM has notified the relevant authorities, and an investigation has been launched into the cause of the fire, the company said.
The fire broke out in a container or containers, and the vessel changed course to receive firefighting assistance, as informed by the maritime rescue authorities in Port Klang and Banda Aceh. The crew were able to stop the fire, however, two vessels were sent on site as a precaution measure.
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In its latest Safety Digest, which provides lessons learned from an incident where a crewman lost his balance while trying to reposition a net, resulting in falling from the net drum onto the deck below.
The incident
During the early hours of the morning, before daylight, the two crew on board a 10-meter trawler were preparing for their second haul of the night. The weather was fine with a slight swell as the skipper and crewman, neither of whom was wearing a personal flotation device (PFD), made their way onto the deck.
