Industry Presents on Marine Accidents and Salvage
A series of presentations organized and presented jointly by Resolve Marine Group and the SNAME - Greek Supper Section was held Wednesday, June 6 at the Posidonia 2018 exhibition in Athens.
The two-hour event included a total of four presentations – two from SNAME and two from Resolve – focused on the issues of direct and prompt response to merchant vessels’ accidents and damages that have shaken the global shipping community over the past three years.
The event was attended by more than 70 technical representatives of shipping companies and other organizations.
The four presenters and a summary of their technical presentations are as follows.
Speaker: Dr. John Kokarakis, Vice President at Bureau Veritas
Topic: Maritime Accidents and their Investigation
Summary: Several case studies were presented to prove that combination of various disciplines can be employed to solve difficult problems. Kokarakis also analyzed the problem of hydrodynamic interaction between two ships, occupant kinematics in power boat accidents as well as fracture mechanics applications in shipping for the purpose of repair and mitigation.
Speaker: Stephen Tierney, Managing Director of TMC Marine
Topic: Raising the SEWOL
Summary: The ro-ro ferry SEWOL sank off the coast of South Korea on April 16, 2014 with the tragic loss of 304 lives. Tierney’s talk described in detail the complex operation to raise the SEWOL in one single piece and deliver it onto the quayside in Mokpo port. TMC was appointed by the South Korean government as a technical consultants to assist with this endeavor, which was successfully delivered ashore almost exactly three years later in April 2017. The novel method used to raise SEWOL resulted in several world firsts in the marine field.
Speaker: Daniel Dettor, Director – Client Services at Resolve Marine Group
Topic: Resolve’s Global Services Offering
Summary: The presentation touched on Resolve’s growth, which began with a single tug in the Caribbean to what is now a leading international salvor with 12 offices globally. The presentation highlighted Resolve’s involvement in ship owner focused compliance services including OPA-90 SMFF and Alaska APC as well as its China SPRO activities.
Speaker: Matthew Bierwagen, Naval Architect at Resolve Marine Group
Topic: Case Study – Fire in the Atlantic & Wreck Removal at the End of the World
Summary: The presentation touched on two interesting technical operations recently completed. The first related to a bulk carrier fire off the Canary Islands which highlighted the challenges faced and dangers encountered by salvors including handling of dangerous cargoes and ports of refuge. The second case focused on a very technically challenging wreck removal project conducted at the very southern tip of Chile. The case focused on the logistical and technical challenges of conducting salvage operations in remote areas as well as the environmental concerns.