Referring to press release issued 22:30 Norwegian time yesterday related to the accident onboard M/T NCC MEKKA. We deeply regret to inform that one of the injured crewmembers died. The other crewmember is in hospital and his condition is critical.
The ship is now at anchorage outside Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. There is presently no danger for the ship, the remaining crew and cargo. We can confirm that the accident has not resulted in any pollution. A representative of the classification society will carry out an inspection of the damages to the ship and we expect this to take place today. Odfjell has requested for a Maritime Enquiry (Sjøforklaring) to be carried out by Norwegian authorities. We anticipate this to take place in Rio de Janeiro during the next week
June 4th. This afternoon around 19:30 Norwegian time the M/T NCC MEKKA had an explosion in one of her cargo tanks. The incident occurred along the coast of Brazil after departing Santos.
Two of the Philippine crewmembers are reported seriously injured. The local coast guard has been contacted with a request for helicopter to give medical assistance. The ship has suffered some structural damage, but is in a stable condition and proceeding to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As far as we can currently establish the accident has not resulted in any pollution. The ship had discharged part of a cargo of chemicals in Santos, Brazil and was proceeding to Aratu, Brazil to load cargo before continuing to the US East Coast.
M/T NCC MEKKA has a crew of 27 persons. Three of which are Norwegian, 23 Philippine and one from Latvia. M/T NCC MEKKA is a 37.272 dwt. chemical tanker built in Norway in 1995. The ship is registered in Norway and classed by Det Norske Veritas (DNV). M/T NCC MEKKA is owned by National Chemical Carriers Ltd of Saudi Arabia, and operated commercially and managed by Odfjell ASA in Bergen, Norway.
TECON Container Terminal, Santos/Brazil
Vessel Information
Owner: NATIONAL CHEMICAL CARRIERS LTD
Operator: ODFJELL ASA (Plan Holder)
Flag: NORWAY
Cargo Type Carried: Group I Non-Persistent Oils, Group II Persistent Oils, Group III Persistent Oils, Group IV Persistent Oils
Prim/Sec Type: PRIMARY
Type Description: TANK SHIP
Hull: Not specified.
WCD: 267,000 barrels
Length: 183.1 meters
Add a Comment to this Article
Please be civil. Job and promotion will not be added into the comment page.