AsiaRegulatory

Rule changes could happen in wake of Stellar Daisy sinking: Korean Register

The Korean Register of Shipping, the classification society under fire from last Friday’s likely sinking of the Stellar Daisy VLOC, has admitted some rule changes could be on the cards following the accident.

The ship, which belongs to South Korea’s Polaris Shipping, was a converted VLCC, originally built in Japan in 1993, before being converted in 2009 in China.

The ship is believed to have sunk with the loss of 22 crewmembers last Friday in the South Atlantic off Uruguay, carrying 260,000 tons of Vale’s iron ore bound for China.

“We cannot pre-empt the investigation, nor can we speculate on the causes of the incident, but there is a possibility of rule changes,” a spokesperson for the society told Splash today.

The ship’s sinking has many similarities of the demise of the MOL Comfort boxship four years ago, which split in two and sparked significant rule changes for containership design.

Search and rescue teams continue to scour the South Atlantic looking for the Stellar Daisy and its missing crew.

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.
Back to top button