The following is the text of a news release from the U.S. Coast Guard:
(LONGVIEW, Wash.) (Nov. 7) — The Coast Guard detained the 600-foot motor vessel Ikan Sudip on Wednesday, requiring the vessel to remain in Longview until significant safety violations are corrected by the ship’s crew.
The Coast Guard is working with the vessel’s crew, owner and managing company to mitigate the safety violations and make repairs to the vessel prior to it departing port. Coast Guard vessel safety inspectors are also working with the the flag state of the Ikan Sudip and the classification society, Nippon Kaiji Kyokai, responsible for certificating vessel construction and engineering.
“The risks posed by the safety discrepancies rendered the vessel substandard with respect to U.S. and international law,” said Capt. Pat Ropp, Sector Columbia River officer in charge of marine inspection and commanding officer of Marine Safety Unit Portland. “The deficiencies were determined to pose significant risk to the safety of the vessel, crew and port. They collectively indicate that the vessel is unfit to proceed to sea.”
Vessel inspectors from the Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit in Portland discovered the discrepancies this week during a routine safety and regulatory compliance inspection of the Panama-flagged vessel. The Ikan Sudip, owned by Grace Hawk Shipping S.A., is a bulk carrier built in 2008 that loaded grain in Longview and will depart for Manila, Philippines, after the safety violations have been corrected.
The safety violations were related to extensive disrepair of various piping systems in the machinery spaces. Additionally, Coast Guard vessel inspectors discovered that half of the vessel’s fire hoses were deteriorated and inoperable, greatly reducing the crew’s ability to fight shipboard fires.
“The purpose of the Coast Guard’s Port State Control program is to eliminate safety hazards and environmental risks posed by foreign vessels operating in U.S. waters,” said Ropp. “For foreign vessels calling on U.S. ports, the Coast Guard’s Port State Control oversight is the primary means of enforcing internationally recognized standards for safety of life at sea."
