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Maritime News

Ship Collision In The North Sea

On March 10^th the Portuguese flagged container ship MV Solong (9322554) en route from Grangemouth to Rotterdam struck the US flagged oil tanker MV Stena Immaculate (9693018) whilst she was at anchor off the Yorkshire coast in the North Sea.  The Solong was carrying a cargo of alcohol whilst Stena Immaculate was laden with aviation fuel destined for the US Air Force.

Both vessels caught fire after becoming entangled and were abandoned. Later that day they separated and Solong began to drift. Thirty-six people were rescued, one hospitalised and one was not found, presumed dead.

Investigations remain ongoing involving US, UK and Portuguese authorities.  On 3^rd April the UK’s Marine Accident and Investigation Board released an interim report that said “Neither Solong nor Stena Immaculate had a dedicated lookout on the bridge”. The MAIB said its full investigation would examine “navigation and watch keeping practices, manning and fatigue management, the condition and maintenance of the vessels involved and the environmental conditions at the time of crash”.

Trump Lets Rip With His ‘Most Beautiful Word’

The world drew a sharp gasp at the scale and depth of the new tariff regime introduced by President Trump on his so-called ‘Liberation Day’. Some countries got off very lightly, others got hit with the baseline 10% whilst some got way more with China topping the list with a whopping 125% (at time of writing). Reciprocal tariffs have been coming thick and fast from many countries, business responses have included holding back shipments to the US (Jaguar Land Rover) and consumers are shunning American branded goods (most of Europe and Canada).

Stock markets reacted badly to the tariffs and the prospect of a prolonged trade war between China and the US. After some of the biggest one day falls in history, barely days later the tariffs are all paused except for China and the world’s stock markets bounced up hard. If it all looks rather chaotic from the outside one does wonder if there was a greater purpose on the inside to create a very valuable play on the markets.

Definitely one for the Duck Test…

However, there were some more light hearted moments to enjoy amongst all the financial and political chaos that caught Boat Chat’s eye.

The trademark red MAGA baseball hats that have adorned Trump, his team and their supporters turn out to have been Made in China. Better still, after the clumsy visit by vice-president J D Vance to Greenland to threaten a US takeover, an enterprising Greenlander came up with the best alternative MAGA cap yet.

And spare a thought for the penguins and seals of the Heard and Macdonald Islands in the Pacific Ocean being slapped with a 10% tariff. A King penguin told Boat Chat that the entire colony was ‘FLIPPING MAD’ and that they intend to boycott all future DreamWorks projects involving penguins.

Boat Chat Focus - No One Saw That Coming

Humans are generally quite good at processing the data of what’s in front of them and making reasonable short term predictions on what might happen next. It’s how we catch a ball or hit a moving target. But the further into the future we try to foresee, the less effective we become. That is as true of trying to ‘time the financial markets’ (without insider information) as it is of trying to predict who will be a success in later life whilst still at school.

That is why we try to make things more predictable by having rules when undertaking inherently dangerous activities such as driving. The ‘Highway Code’ for each country lays down key rules such as which side of the road you must drive on or how to enter a 4 way intersection.

It’s the same at sea and COLREGs - Preventing collisions at sea Rule 5 requires that “Every vessel shall at all times maintain a proper look-out by sight and hearing as well as by all available means appropriate in the prevailing circumstances and conditions so as to make a full appraisal of the situation and of the risk of collision”, this rule applies in ‘any condition of visibility’. MV Solong’s impact at full cruising speed with no attempt to deviate course or slow down strongly suggests that the lookout was insufficient before the collision.

You wouldn’t expect to drive a truck along a busy motorway whilst paying no attention to the road, so why would one dream of doing that in a ship? This is not intended to apportion blame in this incident, that is the preserve of the MAIB and other investigators. Boat Chat always strives to learn from the mistakes of others for as US First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt once said:

It strikes Boat Chat as odd in this modern age of electronic navigation aids that no bridge alarms sounded to warn of impending collision, no-ones pager or VHF handset bleeped and there was no automated systems to take action. Trains have ‘dead mans’s switches’, planes have proximity warning systems, cars have protocols to steer the car to safety at the side off the road if the driver passes out and yacht MOB systems detect when a crew member is overboard.

If, as is suspected, the bridge on MV Solong was unmanned then it makes the lack of warnings and automation the real culprit here. We know many ships run on often unsustainable minimum manning levels but if that is the chosen modus operandi of the operator, we should at least demand and legislate that owners and operators give crews the tools they need to do so more safely.

UK Small Craft Market In Fine Fettle

The outlook from Boat Chat’s perspective is that the UK small craft market got off to a strong start in 2025.  January to March was the busiest period for marine surveying in 17 years of trading with commissions ranging from insurance surveys on 50+ year old sailing yachts to sea trials and pre-purchase surveys on nearly new motor boats and 40+ foot yachts. Brokers report that buyers are more serious than in 2024 and well priced and prepared boats are selling quickly.

Boat Chat Continues To Grow

Boat Chat continues to grow well and now has over 600 subscribers across all platforms.

Alongside that, the White Hat Marine Surveying YouTube channel continues to upload videos for boat owners, brokers and surveyors all intended to:

‘Help people understand boats better’.

In a recent video, David Pestridge looked at the subject of removing fixed panels to get a better understanding of a yacht’s condition. Dismantling the boat by removing fixed linings is generally frowned upon by surveyors as it leaves one open to the legal challenge that “Well if you opened this to assess condition, why didn't you open that?” No easy answer to that and a lot of boats present surveyors with this dilemma. Here is my take on the issue:

Surveyor’s Top Tip for this month - As temperatures climb and the leisure sailing season gets underway, take an hour to drain, clean, sterilise, rinse and refill your fresh water system. Tap water goes off after a while and tanks and pipes will develop a coating of slime. If like you me you’ve spent a lifetime drinking from Dartmoor streams it probably won’t bother you, but for the less ‘conditioned’ crew members it’ll give them at best a runny tummy…

What’s Coming Up This Summer?

Boat Chat will be off to the Crick Boat Show 23rd-26th May to catch up on all the latest developments on the UK inland waterways industry.  It’s a great show with plenty to see and do, has a real ale and music festival and more dogs than Crufts! If you plan to come along, reach out and let’s get together for a cuppa or pint.

Great Kit Ideas

With the boating season now upon us, it is time to start thinking about new gear for the boat owners or marine surveyors in your life or as a treat for your boat. I have put together several collections on Kit.Co which are all personally recommended items and most of which I own.

From boat safety equipment to books about sailing and the tools and books a marine surveyor needs; there really is something for everyone!

Boaty Terminology

Lookout – A crew member given the specific task or watching the surrounding waters for other vessels‚ land‚ objects in the water‚ hazards‚ threats‚ etc.

How You Can Support Boat Chat

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And Finally…. 👍🏻

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And Finally, Finally…

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