THAMES

General information

Course/Position

Latest news

Saved from the scrapyard

On Thursday 31 July 2014 the dredger THAMES left Ghent (Belgium) with destination Sao Vicente (Cape Verde). Originally the dredger entered the harbour of Ghent on 29 March 2013 for the breakers. In november 2013 the ship was sold to her new owners in Cape Verde and was reflagged from Cook Islands tot Cape Verde, name unchanged. Finally on 31 July 2014 after some delay the vessel left Belgium for Cape Verde.

Detained by MCA (UK) in December 2012

The vessel was detained in Southampton on Dec. 4, 2013 as ten deficiencies marked as ISM were objective evidence of a serious failure, or lack of effectiveness of the implementation of the ISM Code. Other deficiencies identified included the Stability information booklet has not been approved by flag state and does not represent the vessel in current condition; there are no records of stability calculations being carried out in the past and none for the forthcoming voyage. The fire drill conducted was not to a satisfactory standard and the emergency fire pump suction hose was loose and leaking; along with temporary repairs on the fire main pipework and leaking fire hydrants. The main engine had sea water leaking from pipes and the stern tube sealing water pipe had failed; there was oily mixture in the engine room bilges (aft). There was a lack of SART testing in the GMDSS log book; the originals of ISSC and SMC were not on board; there was no CEC for Chief mate; the crane lacked being marked ’do not use’as no load test carried out. Several hand rails were damaged as they were either missing, bent and buckled or the chain attached to the vessel with welding rod and string; the main deck had loose plating covering the overspill areas; the emergency light lamp and diffuser was missing in the starboard (aft) void space. The vent closure to pump room will not seal as it is corroded and the door is bent. The Hopper/aft pump room bulkhead was damaged in several places and must be repaired to satisfaction of classification society. The port discharge bucket was able to go beyond its operating limit and cause damage. The transfer winch emergency stop sparked when touched, the cover was missing and had heavily corroded wires. The lifeboats seasickness tablets had expired, the vessel medical equipment was out of date and there was a security related defect. The vessel was released on the 12 December 2012.