The insurer of a Liberian-flagged bulk provider which ran aground final week in Mauritius following an obvious brawl on board says that the incident was the results of a severe medical episode suffered by one of many vessel’s crew members, and never the results of a wider battle. 

The circumstances of the grounding have led the media to dub the MV Benita the ‘mutiny ship’, suggesting that the grounding was the results of some kind of revolt by one or a few of its crew members. But in assertion supplied to gCaptain, the insurer of vessel, the London P&I Club, fought again in opposition to such claims saying the grounding was really the results of a medical scenario. 

“The grounding followed an incident on board involving a crew member who suffered a serious medical episode which led to him attacking one colleague before causing extensive damage to the engine room systems that led to a loss of power to the vessel,” the assertion stated. “During the intervening time that it took to restore power, the vessel went aground. The injured crew member is receiving medical attention ashore for this seizure. There was no suggestion of a wider conflict on board and all the remaining crew members are safe and accounted for.”

The 44,000 DWT MV Benita was in ballast when it unexpectedly went aground final Friday night (June 17) in Mahebourg, Mauritius throughout a voyage from India to South Africa. 

The homeowners, crewmembers and The London Club as P&I insurers are at the moment working with the appointed salvors, Five Ocean Salvage, and the native authorities to re-float the vessel and to forestall additional environmental injury. According to the insurer, some restricted oil sheens have been reported within the neighborhood of the vessel and the precedence for salvors is to take away the 145 tonnes of gas oil which stays on board. 

A press release by Five Oceans Salvage says that the newest experiences point out that various cargo tanks have been broken and are flooded, nonetheless as of Wednesday the MV Benita seems to be secure and stays firmly aground. Meanwhile, the remaining oil on board is within the strategy of being pumped from the gas tanks to specialised containers on the vessel that can then be eliminated by helicopter. A devoted tug, the ten,560 bhp Ionian Sea FOS, is in place to supply the MV Benita with stability and management because the operations are ongoing. 

Since vessel was in ballast and never carrying any cargo on the time of the grounding, salvors don’t have to concentrate on the removing of cargo. 

Anti-pollution booms stay in place across the vessel and any oil that accumulates is being collected and eliminated by devoted groups. Meanwhile, a plan to re-float and take away the vessel from the shoreline is being developed by the salvage group along side the authorities.

The salvage operation is being led by senior salvage grasp Nikolaos Pappas.