The US Coast Guard on April 24 detained the 738-foot bulk carrier vessel Kind Seas after significant safety violations were found during an inspection in Kalama, Washington.
According to the USCG, vessel inspectors from the Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit in Portland discovered the discrepancies during a routine inspection of the Marshall Islands-flagged vessel, which was built in 1998.
The safety violations were related to a complete failure of the emergency generator, which provides power to emergency equipment including the emergency firefighting pump system. Other discrepancies include deficient structural fire boundary doors designed to prevent the spread of a fire, inoperable bilge pumps critical to removing excess water and waste oil accumulation in engine compartments and inoperable lifesaving communication equipment.
“The deficiencies were determined to pose significant risk to the vessel’s crew and the marine environment indicating that the vessel is unfit to proceed to sea,” said Capt. Patrick Ropp, commanding officer and officer in charge of marine inspection at MSU Portland.
The USCG says vessel inspectors are working with the vessel’s crew, owner, and managing company, as well as the Kind Seas’ flag state and Nippon Kaiji Kyokai, the vessel’s classification society responsible for certificating vessel construction and engineering, to make essential repairs.
The Kind Seas, owned by Fairplay Maritime Ltd., is a bulk carrier that loaded corn and wheat in Kalama. It is expected to depart for Japan after the safety violations have been corrected.
