Inspection of ageing VLOCs ramps up after Stellar Daisy

摘要

When Polaris Shipping's very large ore carrier (VLOC) Stellar Daisy sank in the South Atlantic on 31 March, killing 22 of its 24 crew, it begged the question, 'does this tragedy point to a broader safety risk?' Stellar Daisy was one of 50 very large crude carriers (VLCCs) converted to VLOCs in the mid-2000s at the height of the dry bulk boom: vessels that are now more than 20 years old based on the VLCC construction date. Marshall Islands-flagged Stellar Daisy was converted in 2007 from a VLCC that was built in 1993 - 24 years ago.