Liquefaction of bulk cargoes (nickel ore, bauxite, ore)
The phenomenon by which a wet bulk cargo, nickel, bauxite, iron ore fines, behaves like a liquid under the vibration of the sea and capsizes the bulk carrier; the IMSBC Code sets a transportable moisture limit.
On January 2, 2015, the bulk carrier Bulk Jupiter, loaded with bauxite in Malaysia, sinks in a few minutes off Vietnam, and eighteen of the nineteen seafarers aboard die. The investigation establishes liquefaction of the cargo. The mechanism has been known for decades: a fine-grained bulk, loaded with too high a moisture content, behaves like a solid in port but compacts under the ship's vibrations, expels the water between the grains and turns into mud that slides from side to side. The ship lists and does not recover. The International Maritime Solid Bulk Cargoes Code, the IMSBC Code, made mandatory under SOLAS in 2011, puts these cargoes in Group A and subjects them to a transportable moisture limit (TML): the shipper must provide a moisture content and TML certificate, and the master may run a can test before loading. Practice does not always keep up: nickel cargoes from Indonesia or the Philippines, stored in the open during the rainy season, have caused serial losses. For insurance, the loss is a total loss of hull and cargo, with P&I liability for deaths, and a dispute over whether the ship was unseaworthy or the shipper supplied false certificates. Clubs warn their members and advise requiring independent tests.
Textbook case. 55,000 dwt bulk carrier loaded with 50,000 tonnes of nickel ore with a moisture certificate of 30% for a TML of 34%. The independent test, requested by the charterer before departure, finds 37%: loading stops. The ship, which would have lost USD 15M of hull and USD 12M of cargo, stays at the berth three more days. Test and waiting costs, USD 90,000, stay with the charterer, who claims them from the ore seller.
cargo liquefaction, liquefaction of nickel ore, Group A cargoes, transportable moisture limit, TML, IMSBC Code, bulk cargo liquefaction
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