Baltimar Fire

A damaged fuel hose, inadequate maintenance, band-aid repairs, lack of a safety management system and a substandard ship's diesel generator fuel system were key factors behind the fire on a flag of convenience ship loaded with volatile ammonia nitrate off the Newcastle coast, according to the findings of a government investigation released in June.

"If this ship went up in smoke in Newcastle harbour it could take out the whole city," said ITF Australia coordinator Dean Summers. "This foreign vessel with a mix of foreign crew has been trading up and down the east coast since January 4. It visited six Australian ports over the five weeks and it could not do that without some sort of permit from the federal government."

On February 9 last year, about four hours after the Bahamas-registered Baltimar Boreas sailed from Newcastle with its hazardous load, the second engineer discovered a fire in one of the diesel generators. He discharged a portable fire extinguisher, retreated and shut down the engine room ventilations fans. The crew mustered and operated the engine room oil tank quick closing valve system.

Within half an hour a distress message went out. While the fire was extinguished the ship's electrical system was badly damaged and the Baltimar Boreas had to be towed back into port, the investigation by the Australian Transport Bureau reported.

The report also found that the design of the ship's diesel generator fuel system failed to meet International Maritime Organisation guidelines, the master and the crew entered the engine room too soon after the Halon was released, the funnel ventilators did not comply with the International Convention for Safety of Life at Sea and there was no dedicated lookout on the bridge at the time of the fire. This was in breach of the Seafarer Training, Certification and Watchkeeping Code.

The union has long campaigned against foreign vessels shipping volatile cargoes such as ammonia nitrate but the Howard Government ignored its warnings.

"We want the Labor Government to put a stop to foreign vessels carrying such high-risk cargo on the Australian coast, putting Australian port communities, our national security and the environment at risk," said Dean Summers.

MUA analysis of coastal trade permit data obtained by Senator Kerry O'Brien through a Question on Notice from the Minister for Transport and Regional Services 2005 cites 30 single voyage permits issued to foreign vessels to carry ammonium nitrate in the five years 2000-2005. The 30 permits were given to 11 Bahamas FoC vessels, two Isle of Man, two from Malta, 14 from the Netherlands and one from Denmark.

The Baltimar report is timely, coinciding with a new union submission calling for such cargoes to be restricted to Australian crewed and flagged vessels meeting the highest international safety standards.

The MUA has proposed a new clause in the Ministerial Guidelines for Issuing Permits specifying a permit should be refused when the cargos are a High Consequence Dangerous Good (HCDG), and in particular Security Sensitive Ammonium Nitrate (SSAN). Such cargoes must only be carried in the coasting trade by Australian flagged or licensed vessels.

" Australian crewed and flagged ships are unquestionably the safest mode of transporting cargos around our coastal zone, and in doing so will maintain high standards of national security," the MUA proposal says.

The full report on the Baltimar Boreas incident is available on the Department website at:

http://www.atsb.gov.au