The official search and rescue operation for the missing Nur Allya bulk carrier and its 25 crew has come to a close with just a liferaft, a lifebuoy and an oil slick to show for the thousands of manpower hours spent by teams at sea and in the air in the past three weeks since the Indonesian-flagged ship went missing.
bulk carrier and its 25 crew has come to a close with just a liferaft, a lifebuoy and an oil slick to show for the thousands of manpower hours spent by teams at sea and in the air in the past three weeks The case has now been handed over to Jakarta’s National Transportation Safety Committee, which today started to retrace the vessel’s final voyage, loaded with nickel ore bound for Sulawesi.
Given the scant debris detected thus far and the ship’s final distress call, it is thought that the 2002-built ship went down near Obi island in the North Maluku region of the Indonesian archipelago.
In the aftermath of the 52,400 dwt Nur Allya’s disappearance international dry bulk shipping association Intercargo urged all shipping companies to exercise “extreme caution” when accepting, for carriage, nickel ore and other cargoes that have the potential to liquefy.
“Moisture related cargo shifting and incidents on voyage, widely known as liquefaction, continue to be a major concern for dry bulk shipping,” Intercargo stated in a release.
Cargo liquefaction has accounted for more than 50% of all deaths onboard dry bulk vessels over the past decade.
The 2002-built Nur Allya was involved in a double collision in Singaporean waters in January 2015, an accident that led to a lengthy legal case at the High Court of Singapore.
