99049 Flag of Inconvenience

18 Feb 1999 MARS

Flag of Inconvenience
Report No. 99049

About 5 years ago I was appointed as Captain to a ship during the first voyage after it had been in dock for repairs. I subsequently learnt from some of the crew that the ship had previously been abandoned and sold at an auction. Any repairs that were supposed to have been carried out were very superficial and not done properly. I soon discovered that there were many deficiencies in the equipment and that the living conditions on board were extremely poor. Some of the deficiencies were:

 

  • Four main pumps were broken.
  • The Ballast pump needed to be run almost continuously and was nearly at a standstill.
  • The oily water separator had not worked for a long time.
  • The right iron ball on the Standard Compass was missing, the casing had collapsed and was held together with a rope.
  • The galley drain pipe was blocked. The Cook had to clean the deck by sweeping water into a basin and emptying that overside through a side scuttle.
  • The toilet drain pipes were blocked so all the crew had to use a urinal pipe attached through the bottom of the toilet bulkhead causing very bad smells.
  • The air conditioning and heating had not worked for a long time and the crew were only supplied with one very thin bed cloth and one small kettle for boiling water for everyone.
  • The temperature was at times - 70C, the damp bed clothes were iced up and many of the crew became ill.

 

 

I asked the owner to supply the necessary safety material so that the crew could make some repairs themselves but shortly after that I was dismissed.

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