Cyclone Nilam brought along its tide MT Pratibha Cauvery –
the tanker vessel is now struck in Nochikuppam area near Pattinapakkam
[Foreshore Estate] – one life lost and some missing from the ill-fated
ship. The
vessel Pratibha Cauvery is a Tanker vessel
of 1981 built with 16949 GRT ; Length overall (LOA) 174.05 (MTR); Indian
flagged with call sign: VWQU and IMO: 7920754.
It is owned by Mumbai based Pratibha Shipping Company and
forms part of the fleet of Pratibha Indrayani, Pratibha Chandrabhaga, Pratibha
Warna, Pratibha Tapi, Pratibha Neera, Pratibha Koyna, Pratibha Bheema –
according to the website of the Company, which was incorporated in Feb
1995. The site provides that since Dec
2002, the ownership of the Company is with the
A.N. Pawar Family.
On seeing the vessel closer to the sands of Pattinapakkam,
there are apprehensions on how the vessel would ever be floated back and
whether the old double hull would withstand the batterings of the sea and the
strains of salvage acts.
Sure you know of IMO – the
International Maritime Organization, earlier known as the Inter-Governmental Maritime
Consultative Organization (IMCO) until 1982.
IMO was established in Geneva London ,
United Kingdom , the IMO is a
specialized agency of the United Nations with 170 Member States
You might have noticed that just like our Registration No.
for Motor vehicles from which you can identify the State and place of
Registration and identify a Vehicle, there is an unique code through which
ships are identified too. This is more
complicated, going by the International nature of vessels and the need for
having a unique identification, which will never confuse nor confront with
anyother vessel.
As could be seen the stranded MT Pratibha Cauvery
is identified as : IMO: 7920754. This
is known as IMO Ship Identity. As you would know, the name of Ship can be changed, the
ownership can change, so also the flag of Registry i.e., where the vessel is
registered but this IMO number will not change. This IMO No. would remain
unchanged upon transfer of ship to other flag(s) and would etched through its
lifetime incorporated in the Ship’s Certificate which has been made mandatory
under SOLAS.
The IMO ship identification number scheme was introduced in
1987 through a resolution and is aimed
at enhancing "maritime safety, and pollution prevention and to facilitate
the prevention of maritime fraud". It aimed at assigning a permanent
number to each ship for identification purposes. The implementation of the
scheme became mandatory for all ships as of 1 January 1996. In December 2002, the Diplomatic Conference
on Maritime Security adopted a number of measures aimed at enhancing security
of ships and port facilities. This included a modification to SOLAS Regulation
XI-1/3 to require ships' identification numbers to be permanently marked in a
visible place either on the ship's hull or superstructure. Passenger ships
should carry the marking on a horizontal surface visible from the air. Ships
should also be marked with their ID numbers internally.
The IMO ship identification number is made of the three
letters "IMO" followed by the seven-digit number assigned to all
ships by IHS Fairplay (formerly known as Lloyd's Register-Fairplay) when
constructed. This is a unique seven digit number that is assigned to propelled,
sea-going merchant ships of 100 GT and above upon keel laying.
Vessels solely engaged in Fishing; ships without mechanical
means of propulsion; pleasure yachts; special service ships; hopper barges,
floating docks; war ships; wooden ships will not have IMO Numbering. There is something known as a check digit,
the one on the rightmost which adds integrity to the IMO number.
After its implementation, there have been some amendments
which added registered owner identification number also. The IMO unique company and registered owner
identification number is a number, allocated at the time of issuance of a
document. For new companies and
registered owners, the assignment of the IMO unique company and registered
owner identification number should be made when the company's ship is entitled
to fly its flag.
The Company which provides the IMO Ship No. is - IHS
Fairplay (IHSF), the sole authority with responsibility for assigning and
validating these numbers. The Numbers are issued from the global maritime
databases maintained by IHSF and consist of a unique seven digit number. IHSF
manages this Scheme on behalf of the IMO.
In the 20 years since the introduction of the Scheme, the IMO Ship
Number has become a universal public reference for ships, and continues to be
the unique ship identifier adopted in new systems, such as AIS and LRIT. The Scheme assigns IMO Ship Numbers to
propelled, sea-going merchant ships of 100 GT and above with exceptions as
noted earlier in this post.
Further to the permanent and visible marking on the ship, the IMO no. is
to be marked on plans, manuals and other documents too. The IMO number is never reassigned to another
vessel. Here is the details of the
vessel obtained from www.imonumber.com by furnishing the IMO No. as 7920754
With regards – S. Sampathkumar
1st Nov. 2o12.
Many Thanx for this informative post. It gives a better understanding of the ground realities .
ReplyDeleteGreat post - perfect explanation to IMO - Vaseegarab
ReplyDeleteGreat to make a hard concept appear easy - Li na
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