Name Bulk Jupiter Out of service December 30, 2014 Length 190 m Beam 32 m | Owner Gearbulk Launched 2006 Draft 13 m | |
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Builder Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding | ||
Bulk Jupiter was a Bahamas registered cargo ship. She sank off the coast of Vietnam on 1 January 2015.
Contents
Sinking
On 2 January 2015 Bulk Jupiter sank off the coast of Vung Tau, Vietnam. She departed from Kuantan, Malaysia on 30 December 2014 with a cargo of 46,400 tons of bauxite and a crew of 19 Filipinos.
The Vietnam Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center (Vietnam MRCC) and The Japanese Coast Guard received distress signals at 22:54 hours UTC on 1 January in position lat 9".01' 01:001N, long 109" 15' 26.01E from Bulk Jupiter, but were unable to make contact with the vessel.
Dispatched rescue vessels found one crew member, the ship's cook, who refused to cooperate. Later searches found two other bodies. The remaining 16 crew members are presumed dead.
Early reports indicated that the likely cause of the sinking was sudden loss of stability from the bauxite cargo.
Investigation and corrective action
IMO has approved a cirular to warn ship's masters about the liquefaction hazards of bauxite.
not to accept bauxite for carriage unless:
• the moisture limit for the specific cargo is certified as less than the indicative moisture limit of 10% and the particle size distribution as is detailed in the individual schedule for bauxite in the IMSBC Code; or • the cargo is declared as Group A (cargoes that may liquefy) and the shipper declares the transportable moisture limit (TML) and moisture content; or