Ostende Max and Formosaproduct Brick Collision

Classification

Incident Type: Collision
Severity: High
Region: Other
Location: Malacca Straits, south west of Port Dickson, Malaysia
Coordinates: 2.387500, 101.644333
Tug involvement: no
Tug mechanism: N/A

Vessel Details

Field	Ostende Max	Formosaproduct Brick
Vessel type	Bulk Carrier	Tanker
Flag state	Isle of Man [IM]	Liberia [LR]
IMO number	9164653	9266762
Gross tonnage	38489	39307
LOA (m)	217.26	228.5
Beam (m)	32.2	32.2
Year built	1998	2004
Crew complement	22	25
Cargo	none	Naphtha
Technical manager	Enterprises Shipping and Trading SA, Greece	Formosa Plastic Marine Corp., Taiwan
Owner	Carsten World Inc., BVI	Formosa Alpine Marine Corp., Liberia

Incident Details

Field	Value
Date and time	2009-08-18 at 20:52 local mean time
Collision position	2.387500, 101.644333
Ostende Max status	Give-way vessel in a crossing situation
Formosaproduct Brick status	Stand-on vessel in a crossing situation
Fatalities	9 on Formosaproduct Brick
Injuries	3 on Ostende Max; additional Formosaproduct Brick survivor injuries reported but not quantified
Missing
Pollution/cargo loss	Large quantity of naphtha spilled from Formosaproduct Brick, ignited, and was eventually consumed by fire
Outcome	Formosaproduct Brick's naphtha cargo ignited after the collision; nine crew members died, three Ostende Max crew members were injured, and both vessels sustained fire and structural damage.
Direct Damage
Estimated Economic Damage

Key facts

The collision occurred at 20:52 local mean time on 18 August 2009 in the Malacca Straits precautionary area southwest of Port Dickson, Malaysia.
Ostende Max was the give-way vessel and Formosaproduct Brick was the stand-on vessel in a crossing situation.
Formosaproduct Brick's cargo tank ruptured and naphtha spilled and ignited, engulfing the sea around Ostende Max.
Nine Formosaproduct Brick crew members died. Three Ostende Max crew members were injured; survivor injuries aboard Formosaproduct Brick were reported but not quantified.
Both vessels sustained significant fire and structural damage. The report does not provide monetary damage, repair, insured-loss, or salvage estimates.
The Isle of Man Ship Registry concluded that the collision was preventable if the COLREGS had been effectively implemented.

Narrative

Ostende Max departed Port Dickson on 18 August 2009 and crossed toward the south east bound traffic lane in the Malacca Straits precautionary area. The report describes a breakdown in bridge team management on Ostende Max, including poor communication, distraction, inadequate lookout, and poor situational awareness.

Before the collision, Ostende Max's bridge team became confused about vessels off the starboard bow. The team incorrectly treated Formosaproduct Brick as a false echo and confused Southern Highway with Formosaproduct Brick. Bic Irini was also involved in the target-identification confusion. The bridge team made small and arbitrary course alterations without adequately understanding which vessel the action was for or what effect it would have.

At 20:52 local mean time, Ostende Max and Formosaproduct Brick collided at 2.387500, 101.644333. Ostende Max was heading 245 degrees gyro at 11.1 knots and Formosaproduct Brick was heading 142 degrees true at 13.5 knots. A cargo tank on Formosaproduct Brick ruptured, naphtha spilled and ignited, and fire engulfed the sea surrounding Ostende Max.

Post-collision, Ostende Max sounded the general alarm, controlled a small fire on the forecastle, and used boundary cooling. Nordspring, a Cypriot registered container vessel, assisted at the scene, rescued crew from Formosaproduct Brick, and later transferred survivors to Malaysian authorities.

Sequence of events

Date/time	Event
2009-08-18 about 20:49 local	The Ostende Max bridge team became confused about targets in the traffic flow and made course alterations without a reliable identification of the vessels involved.
2009-08-18 20:52 local	Ostende Max and Formosaproduct Brick collided in the Malacca Straits.
2009-08-18 immediately after the collision	A Formosaproduct Brick cargo tank ruptured and the naphtha ignited; Ostende Max's hull paint and a small forecastle fire were also affected.
2009-08-18 after the collision	Ostende Max fought its small fire while Nordspring assisted Formosaproduct Brick and transferred rescued crew to Malaysian authorities.

Contributing factors

Factor	Evidence status	Description
Ineffective give-way action by Ostende Max	Confirmed finding	The give-way vessel did not take effective action in the crossing situation.
Target-identification confusion	Confirmed finding	The bridge team treated Formosaproduct Brick as a false echo and confused other vessels in the traffic flow.
Poor bridge resource management	Confirmed finding	The investigation identified poor communication, distraction, inadequate lookout, and weak situational awareness.
Ineffective radar and AIS use	Confirmed finding	The bridge team did not use available target information reliably to assess the developing risk.

Investigation

The Isle of Man Ship Registry investigated the casualty in Report CA107, with cooperation from Malaysian authorities and reference to a separate investigation of Formosaproduct Brick's actions. The report concluded that the collision was preventable through effective COLREG application and identified serious bridge-team, lookout, target-identification, and situational-awareness failures aboard Ostende Max. The reviewed report provides no monetary damage estimate.

References

Casualty Investigation Report CA107