Damage report, Enhanced

Survey Programme
• Damage report,
• 1. Lists the items that need to be taken into account where preparing a
damage report
• 2. Lists the evidence that needs to be collected in assisting the preparation of a
damage report
•
• Enhanced Survey Programme
• 3. Describes the guidelines on the Enhanced Programme of Inspections during
surveys of Bulk Carriers
• 4. Describes the guidelines on the Enhanced Programme of Inspections during
surveys of Oil Tankers
• Sample of Cargo damage report
•
• A loss or damage report is a notification to the carrier of loss or
damage discovered at time of unloading. The loss or damage report
should describe the loss or damage, the probable cause of the loss
or damage and the disposition of the damaged commodity.
• A LOSS OR DAMAGE REPORT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FREIGHT
CLAIM.
• Arrangement of cargo damage survey onboard bulk carrier

• If cargo damage has occurred or is suspected, the ship master should

immediately inform the charterer and the P&I Club. The main concern
is when the receiver refuses to accept delivery of the damaged cargo,
resulting in a loss to the vessel. The first aim is to persuade the
receiver to accept the cargo. However, this can only be done by
agreement between the carrier and the receiver.
• It is possible that the receiver and the carrier may appoint a joint
surveyor to reach an agreement on the extent of damage. However,
for ship's officers, it is vital that the facts are recorded in the
appropriate logbook as soon as damage has been discovered.
• To support a claim, the surveyor may request that the ship provide the
following documents:
1. B/L and charterparty (if any)
2. draught survey reports
3. shipper's declaration along with any special instructions or
observations about the cargo
4. copies of ship's logbooks, sounding record book, ballast record book
and maintenance record
5. record of any correspondence between the ship, charterers and
stevedores
6. cargo stowage plan
7. ship's particulars including copies of ship's plans.
• Before any documentation is handed over, the authority of the ship's
operator is required. The surveyor may also ask for additional
documentation, depending upon the nature of the cargo and the
trade area.
• It must be kept in mind that the carrier must show that the ship has
been maintained in a seaworthy condition, that due diligence has
been exercised for the safe carriage of the cargo and that any damage
to the cargo has been due to circumstances beyond the control of
shipboard officers. If these can be proven by documentary evidence a
claim can be avoided.
• Hold Damage Surveys
• If ship's officers notice any damage to the ship's structure they must
immediately notify the Master, who in turn must notify the concerned
parties including managers, charterers and P&I Club as well as the
stevedores.
• A letter should be issued to the stevedores holding them responsible
for the damage . If the ship has been chartered the, charterers are
usually responsible for the damage caused by the stevedores.
• However, since the onus to prove the claim in such cases is on the
claimant, ie the carrier, the ship's officers must ensure that adequate
evidence is collected as soon as possible.
• To avoid losing a claim, any negligence by the stevedores should
immediately be brought to the attention of the Master, who should
notify them in writing.
• Use of damage control book
Damage control books issued to cargo ships contain text, tables and
diagrams providing information concerning the ship’s damage control
characteristics and systems. These books normally include the
information from tank sounding tables, stability and loading data
booklets, cross curves of stability and other sources. Copies of the
damage control book should be readily available in the event of any
shipboard emergency.
• Damage Control Plan showing clearly for each deck and hold and
boundaries of the watertight compartments, the openings therein
with the means of closure and position of any control thereof, and the
arrangements for the correction of any list due to flooding. The plan is
to be permanently exhibited or readily available on the navigation
bridge. In addition, booklets containing the aforementioned
information are to be made available to the officers of the vessel.
•
Further reading: MSC.1/Circ.1245 dated 29October 2007 “Guidelines
for Damage Control Plans and Information to the Master”
• Tables and Drawings.
The Damage Control Book includes tables and drawings showing the
locations of:
i) Watertight and fumetight doors, hatches and scuttles.
ii)Ventilation fittings, fans and controllers.
iii) Fire main piping valves and stations.
iv) Drainage system piping and valves.
v) Sound-powered phone circuits and jacks.
• Damage stability – Stability of a flooded ship. When water runs into a
ship following an accident, different scenarios can take place. The ship
may sink due to flooding of so many compartments that there is not
enough buoyancy to keep the vessel afloat. This was the case for RMS
TITANIC that sank in 1912, 2.5 hours after hitting an iceberg. With
today’s rescue means, 2.5 hours would be enough to save most of the
people on board.
• A much more dangerous scenario is ship capsizing due to loss of
transverse stability as this can happen within few minutes. The
disasters with HERALD OF FREE ENTERPRISE and ESTONIA may serve
as an example. A vessel can survive damage of some extent if the hull
is subdivided into watertight compartments by means of watertight
bulkheads. The subdivision should be designed to make sure that
after the flooding of some compartments the ship can float and be
stable under moderate environmental conditions. Then, passengers
and crew can be saved.
• Damage stability calculations – Calculations of stability of damaged
ship are complicated and tedious. At present, two different analysis
concepts are applied: the deterministic concept and the probabilistic
concept. For both concepts, the damage stability calculation shall be
made according to the method of lost buoyancy. Unfortunately, the
collision resistance is not considered when assessing damage stability
and vessels with strengthened side structures are treated in the same
way as single-hulled ships.
• A variety of maritime accidents can take place at the sea. As such kind
of disasters are unfortunate in nature and generally involve huge loss
of life and property, they are always followed by detailed investigation
along with various legal proceedings.
•
• Any form of information or data which can be helpful in the
investigation process is known as evidence. Seafarers and
professionals working on ships play an important role in collecting
evidence which would help to resolve the issue as soon as possible.
• Why Should Evidence be Collected?
• Evidence that is collected on board ships is considered as proof that
tends to establish facts during investigation. So let’s say two ships
have met with a collision with each other and the matter is now in
court. In such situation, it’s the factual evidence or the time
statement that assists the investigators and help judges to come to a
decision. In the past, several maritime disputed facts have been won
over on the basis of providing genuine evidence.
• Usually, we see disputes/conflicts on board ships, even, during the
day-to-day activities. Irrespective of the kind of dispute, investigation,
arbitration, judgment, etc. all call for good evidence in lieu with the
ISM modules. The information that would form an evidence does not
necessarily be documented in log books and time sheets but can also
be in the form of photographs, videos, CD’s, or even investigated data
from third party experts. This would prove that the accident is
worthwhile and thus eventually save costs and valuable time.
• Evidence – objective as well as subjective will be analysed by lawyers,
investigators, auditors, insurers, underwriters, consultants, etc. Such
facts would be required to be thoroughly understood including the
background data that lead to the casualty. This explains why one is
required to gather as much data as possible including past records,
registers, crew data, ship’s technical aspects, and data from the
safety management systems.
• When should seafarers collect evidences?
• It is imperative to understand the need of the evidence during an accident on
ships. Practically, whatever data that is available related to the accident should
be collected almost “immediately” after the incident / accident took place.
Some of the useful data that can be collected for investigation includes daily
records in the form of logbooks, daily registers, etc.
• Sometimes an accident can be a major one and it may take months or even
years to get the claims settled. There have been cases wherein the parties
involved have delayed the process by taking up defensive roles. Following this,
as the delays get instinctive, retrieving credible information and subsequent
data is very much difficult. It is therefore better to start collecting data as soon
as the incident or casualty takes place.
• What are the investigators / auditors looking for?
• Seafarers need to remember that there would be certain cases or
incidents which would involve different kinds of people with varied
backgrounds and not all of them would be well known with the
shipboard life and shipping related operations.
• Investigators or auditors in general are interested only in getting as
much data as possible to explore all possibilities that might have led
to the maritime incident. They would collect and safeguard all the
factual data that suggests what took place during the accident,
although it is pretty much difficult to figure out what exactly
happened.
• In a lot of cases, the witnesses are fretful about any blames directed
towards them and accordingly present themselves to stay on safe
grounds. Unfortunately, the investigators are not concerned with
human emotions and are in fact more grueling with the people whom
they suspect. Scattered clues are picked up inadvertently throughout
the investigation process and thus it is viable for the investigators to
keep the witnesses encouraged in order to give an accurate feedback.
• The Seafarer’s role in collecting evidence
• In cases where loss of life or serious casualties have occurred, or cases
where it is assured of
• great loss of money; lawyers are proven to be the best scouts. Apart
from lawyers who play a crucial role, the mariners, especially the
senior officers play a large role in providing evidences to the
investigation process. The evidence provided by the seafarers makes
the investigation all the more easier as the data is coming from the
most reliable sources – the mariners.
• The mariners can provide valuable information that will assist in
handling claims and other disputes. Evidence provided by the
seafarers should be in compliance with explicit rules / regulations as
per the international and company level standards.
The following categories are probably the ones that are used up as
basis to ‘good’ data collection
1. Complying with the local and international regulations of the IMO
such as SOLAS, MARPOL, COLREGS, COSWP, ISM, ISPS, etc.
2. Complying Flag State/ Administration requirements
3. Following Company Policies / SMS, etc.
4. Also with every single safety management system on board there
will be measures identified for maintaining vital documents
accurately, including but not limited to:
5. Crew details including their Passport and Medical information
6. Stability information and previous records
7. Ship’s certificates
8. Safety Equipment details and their maintenance /inspection records
9. Cargo documentation / calculations
10. Official log book
11. Deck log books and Engine log books
12. Movement books (Deck and Engine) including associated print outs
13. Maintenance records
14. Garbage and other Environmental management records
• In all, seafarers are invariably responsible for gathering data with
respect to the vessel’s day-to-day activities / operations or during
casualty / incident / accident / cargo dispute, etc. Evidence in the
form of photos, videos for real time data, record keeping, notes of
protest, statement of facts, master’s reports and likewise any data
that might be useful in fault finding and claims settlement must be
taken by seafarers during accidents.
• Enhanced Survey Programme
•
• Here is What You Need to Know about Enhanced Survey Programme
• The way ships are maintained has changed since last decade or two.
• Rarely will it happen that a seafarer completes his contract without
the ship going through any survey or inspection.
• It is now surveys and inspections all the way.
•
• We have one or more surveys and inspections to cover each element
of the ship.
• For example, surveys for safety equipment certificate ensures that
ship’s safety equipments are maintained in the way these should be
• Safety construction, load line certificate surveys deal with the
construction part of the ship.
• So where does “Enhanced survey programme” fit in all this and why
do we have this?
• To understand that let us briefly go to the history of the enhanced
survey programme.
• Why Enhanced Survey Programme?
•
• The Enhanced survey programme is applicable for bulk carriers and oil
tankers.
• Definitely, IMO found something grossly wrong with these ships.
Something so wrong that they had to bring more stringent regulation
for these type of ships.
• Here is what was wrong.
• So many ships and lives lost !!! All because something was wrong with
either the design of the ship or with the maintenance of the ship.
•
• During this period, the number of oil tankers lost may not be as many
as bulk carriers but oil tankers were included for the requirements of
ESP because of cargo these carry.
•
• Following these incidents, more and more P&I clubs started to
question the quality of surveys done by the classification societies.
• In 1993, IACS introduced Enhanced survey program for more close up
inspections of these ships.
• But then again In 1994 alone, 12 bulk carriers were lost in the sea.
•
• This made the IMO to take special measures and to adopt a new
SOLAS chapter (Chapter XI-1) to enhance maritime safety.
•
• Among other requirements, this new chapter required bulk carriers
and oil tankers to go through enhanced survey program.
• What is Enhanced survey programme
• A ship undergoes four type of surveys during its 5 yearly cycle of
statutory surveys.
• Annual Survey
• Intermediate survey
• Renewal Survey
• Dry dock survey
• So where does Enhanced survey programme fit in these?
• Enhanced survey programme is not a separate survey. ESP just gives
the specific guidelines about what to inspect during these surveys
with respect to hull and structure of bulk carriers and oil tankers.
• These detailed guidelines are given in the ESP code.
• Let me give you a brief about these guidelines.
• Who to inspect
• For bulk carriers of 20,000 tons deadweight and above, two surveyors
should jointly carry out the first scheduled renewal survey after the
bulk carrier passes 10 years of age (i.e. third renewal survey), and all
subsequent renewal surveys and intermediate surveys.
• On bulk carriers of 100,000 tons deadweight and above, the
intermediate survey between 10 and 15 years of age should be
performed by two surveyors.
• When to inspect
• The renewal survey may be commenced at the fourth annual survey
and be progressed during the succeeding year with a view to
completion by the fifth-anniversary date.
• A survey in dry-dock should be a part of the renewal survey. There
should be a minimum of two inspections of the outside of the ship’s
bottom during the five-year period of the certificate. In all cases, the
maximum interval between bottom inspections should not exceed 36
months
• How to inspect
• For ships of 15 years of age and over, inspection of the outside of the
ship’s bottom should be carried out with the ship in dry-dock. For
ships of less than 15 years of age, alternate inspections of the ship’s
bottom not conducted in conjunction with the renewal survey may be
carried out with the ship afloat.
• It covers the minimum requirements for the inspection of ship’s hull
and structure during each type of survey. The structures like
• Cargo holds and hatch covers
• All pipings
• Ballast tanks
• All Hull plating
• Watertight bulkheads
• It also guides about the extent the inspection (overall survey or close up survey) for
each of these elements during these surveys.
•
• The overall survey is intended to report the overall condition of the hull structure.
For example, as per ESP code during the annual surveys, the overall survey of the
cargo tanks need to be carried out.
•
• This would mean that surveyor needs to do the good visual inspection of the cargo
hold.
• Close up survey is a survey where the details of structural components are within
the close visual inspection range of the surveyor, i.e. normally within reach of hand.
• Now that we know few things about ESP, let us understand the process involved in
the ESP.
•
• 1. Survey Programme
• ESP code requires that a survey programme is developed before the renewal survey.
• The survey programme document gives the complete detail of what needs to be
inspected and what resources are required to conduct the survey.
• Survey programme gives the inspecting surveyor a written plan to follow.
• Survey programme is sometimes also called “Survey planning document”.
• The purpose of this planning document is to identify the hull related critical areas
that must be inspected during the renewal survey of the ship.
• But how these critical areas are identified? These few resources help
in identifying these criticalareas.
• i) ESP Code
• ESP code has detailed instruction on the minimum criteria for
inspection during each of the statutory survey.
• For example, Annex 1 of the ESP code defines the requirements
for the close-up survey during renewal survey of the ship.