“On December 14, 2004, the Al-Samidoon, whilst transiting through the Suez Canal under the control of two pilots of the Suez Canal Authorities and loaded with 198,000 tons of crude oil, struck the bank of the canal in an effort to avoid collision with a moored dredger.
The vessel was in very good condition at the time of the accident. Recently dry-docked, the Al Samidoon had obtained a Condition Assessment Program (CAP) rating of ONE for the hull and was on her first loaded passage after drydock when the accident occurred.
Pilots onboard
Suez Canal pilots were onboard and manoeuvring the vessel at the time of the collision. However, under traditional maritime law, it is the master/ company which is held responsible for any accident, not the pilot - even though common sense dictates that the pilots should be held responsible in the Al-Samidoon case.
We all remember the Exxon Valdez and Prestige, both vessels which spilled a huge quantity of crude oil. These vessels were at sea and under the direct command of the master, who represents the owner. Al-Samidon was not. The vessel was transiting through the canal with pilots onboard guiding the ship throughout.
Common denominator
While it is clear that the Al-Samidoon oil spill in the Suez Canal occurred under very different circumstances, the two cases share one common denominator: The master/owner of the vessel was held responsible for all damages.
While KOTC acknowledges that the master is responsible for the vessel regardless of who is onboard, the presence of pilots complicates this issue. For example, if the master chooses to ignore the pilot, he risks causing a lot of problems. In the end, he's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. In practice, the pilot is in charge during the transit.
It is well known that pilots are sometimes responsible for causing major accidents, yet in no part of the world are they held accountable. Surely, somebody as to do something about that? In my view, there should be a full investigation (on pilot activities) by a third party and in the event that they are to blame for accidents, the authorities responsible for pilots should be held accountable and made to share the costs.
USD 10 million costs
In the case of the Al Samidoon, the damage was extensive. The vessel is currently undergoing damage-repair work in Dubai Drydocks, and at this stage the initial estimate of the steel renewal has doubled to 550 tonnes. The total cost is expected to exceed USD 5 million, with no final figure in sight.
In addition, KOTC has to absorb additional costs, both tangible and intangible in terms of damage to the company’s reputation, the cleaning up of the Suez Canal, claims for environmental damage, claims from various shipowners regarding the fouling of their vessels’ hulls with crude oil while passing through the canal, repair costs/chemical cleaning costs, costs of mitigating further damage to the environment, loss of revenue due to the vessel being out of business for four to five months, among others.
In this day and age and considering the complexity of the shipping industry, we believe it is time for such traditional laws to be updated to be more in tune with reality.”
(NOTE: Mr. Abdullah's views do not necessarily reflect the views of DNV.)
