Vernal Grace - Grounding

Built                        1985

GRT                        4510

Vessel Type          Chemical and Oil tanker

Voyage from/to    Indonesia/Malaysia to India

Casualty date        July 2007

Cargo                     3570 MT Crude Palm Oil

Reports have been received that the Panamanian flag vessel VERNAL GRACE, 4510 GRT, 1985 built has grounded in the Hoogly River in India. The grounding site is about 40 miles from the Kolkata Docks, where it was headed for the Budge Budge jetty. There are no human casualties.

The situation does give rise for concern. This river can be hazardous and the writer well remembers a previous case (“GREEN OPAL”) some years ago where it proved impossible to salvage the ship from the muddy bottom of the river and a major wreck removal was required. At the moment, the local authorities are mobilising craft and equipment to attempt to assist in the salvage of the vessel, with the high tides which will prevail until Monday. If this fails, a third party salvor will be required.

We have some interesting information which leads us to believe that there are decent prospects for holding the shipowners responsible for this incident.

There are potential claims for salvage and General Average arising from this incident, as well as PA losses.

If salvage security is required, our personal corporate salvage guarantees are accepted by Lloyds. We can provide salvage security on your behalf (subject to internal procedures) for a bail fee from 0.8% of the guarantee amount.

If you have insured cargo on board this vessel and require our assistance to deal with any security demands and claims for salvage and/or General Average, please contact us as soon as possible. We can also assist you in pursuing recovery for any losses that you may suffer. In this regard, we have identified the vessels’ P&I Club.