Australia bans second Briese MPP in a month

Regulators have banned a second Briese vessel from entering Australian waters in the past month after an inspection revealed “serious deficiencies”.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has issued a 180-day ban on Briese Heavylift’s 2012-built multipurpose vessel BBC Pearl over multiple failures of the safety management system, a defective emergency generator and defective fire dampers.

“The defective emergency generator would render the vessel helpless in the event of a main power supply failure, and this is the second time the BBC Pearl has been detained for a defective emergency generator,” said Michael Drake, AMSA’s executive director of operations.

AMSA said Briese Heavylift has had a history of poor performance, with multiple warnings issued that “future safety violations would lead to strict enforcement action”. 

Earlier in June, when AMSA barred the 2006-built BBC Weser for 90 days, the safety watchdog noted that one in five Briese Heavylift-operated ships have been detained in Australia since May 2021 – a rate more than three times the average for ships visiting Australian waters.

“We have imposed a longer ban of 180 days on the BBC Pearl to send a clear message to any poor-performing operator that Australia finds these conditions to be unacceptable,” Drake added.