It wasn't supposed to happen because every move was done by the book, but it did - and three seamen lost their lives when the M/V Stellamare recently capsized while being loaded at a Hudson River dock
NUMBER 13 IN THE FAMILY OF SPECIALTY SHIPS FOR HEAVY LIFT JOBS
Most of the world's harbors are not built nor conformed to allow ships to load and unload heavy cargo in limited spaces. Modern harbors have moved toward containerization, yet Third World nations still rely upon rickety docks or old beat-up concrete or wooden piers, quays or moles that were built before, during or just after World War Two - at least 60 years ago. Many emerging nations, and those that have been ravaged by war or just plain financially neglected port areas, have only rudimentary harbor facilities and conventional cargo vessels cannot off load. Jumbo Shipping, which owned the recently lost M/V Stellamare, has vessels that can load and offload in almost any condition and even built temporary causeways to allow cargo to be dispensed. This is important, for often it is these poor run-down ports that desperately need heavy equipment ranging from locomotives to farm machinery or even electric generators.
The M/V Stellamare is one of those vessels that is shorter by 30-ft than a typical WWII destroyer, yet can be expected to carry a "Jumbo" load to the far reaches of almost any nation that touches the sea either directly or via river or tributary from a lake. The small vessel capsized and declared a total loss in a freak accident on 9 December 2003, in the Port of Albany, New York, on the then icy Hudson River. With its loss were the lives of three Russian seamen: Y. Akrofin, S. Khasenevich and V. Alexev. All were experienced seamen as they had followed the sea for over two decades each.
The Stellamare is just over 289-ft in length with a 50.85-ft beam. The ship has a draught of 24-ft, a dead weight tonnage of 2850, and is driven by a diesel propulsion plant which generates up to 2800-horsepower. It is classed as a B type in heavy lift jargon, and has a load range of 3000- to 3200-tons. The ship has two 180-ton capacity cranes or derricks sited forward and aft (just in front of the pilot house and crews quarters). These cranes can work singularly or in tandem to load or unload up to 360-tons, however, when both are in use, great care must be exercised, especially when the ship is being ballasted or counter-flooded to accommodate heavy loads being brought up and over the vessel's center of gravity.
The ship was built in the Netherlands and was christened originally in 1982 as the M/V Valkenswaard. She was designed and constructed by the Van Diepen Shipyard in the Netherlands, and was one of the oldest vessels in the jumbo family of heavy lift ships. For five years, the ship operated under its christened name Valkenswaard until it was changed to the Stellamare.
The ship was registered in Willemstad, Curacao, Netherlands Antilles, and legally owned by jumbo Navigation NV. It has operated under the control of the jumbo Shipping Company which specializes in unusual lift and situation capabilities. With the loss of the Stellamare, Jumbo Shipping Company owns and operates twelve heavy lift vessels and works worldwide. The ships are classed based on their load and lifting capacity and the latest addition is the 11,000-ton M/V jumbo Javelin with cranes which - operating in tandem, can lift bulky or densely heavy cargo of up to 1000-tons per load. The ship's hold dimensions are phenomenal, and the newer vessels are highly automated to provide computer assistance to crane and ballast operators. A vastly improved anti-heeling system has been installed, and had this been available to the Stellamare, the accident which cost the lives of three Russian seamen might never have occurred. The Stellamare was the 13th of the Jumbo Shipping Company family of purpose-built vessels and for, numerologists, it might have been an unlucky number, but ships capsize and lives are lost based on more definitive reasons than superstitions.
CRUISE TO AMERICA - BACK TO ITALY AND ALBANIA, AND MAYBE HOME
The Stellamare carried a crew of 18 officers and men and, for this cruise, all were from the ex-Soviet Union. The ship pulled alongside a lonely pier in the Port of Albany bordering the icy Hudson River in early December 2003. The river was swollen with ice chunks and bitterly cold. The job was easy -load massive generators and stators (fixed housing for a rotor) from the General Electric Company for transport to Italy and Albania. The generators, stators and other electrical components were destined to be used in powerplantsin Italy and Albania. The rail line that would bring the heavy equipment to the ship passed down the wharf close to the dock edge, and the crew and ship had been through this evolution many times.
