Case study of MV KAIRALI ship owned by Kerala shipping cooperation

1. BY
JEWEL SHIBU
BSC 19
AMET UNIVERSITY

2. • The ship was initially built in 1965 in Norway
and named as Oscarsord. In 1975 Kerala
Shipping Corporation (KSC) purchased the ship
for a sum of 5.81 crores and renamed
as Kairali.
• This bulk carrier ship was able to carry 19000
tonnes of cargo
• Including Captain Mariadas Joseph and chief
engineer Abhi Mathai there were 51
employees onboad

3. LAST VOYAGE
• MV Kairali sailed from Mormugoa on 30 June
1979.The ship was travelling to Rostock,
Germany via Djibouti with 20,538 tonnes of iron
ore.
• When the ship was ready to sail it loaded cargo
which exceeds its loadline and the captian
warned this to company but the company
pressurized him to go forward
• Also there was a damage in ship radar and the
company refused to repair it

4. • There were communications from and to the ship
on 1st, 2nd, and 3 July 1979 through the Bombay
Radio, (the official agency to communicate
messages to and from the ship). The last message
received from the ship was on 3 July 1979 at 8:00
pm(500 miles away from Mormugoa).
• On july 8 the ship should reach Djibouti for
bunkering
• On 11 July 1979 , Kairali’s shipping agents in
Djibouti, reported to KSC that the ship had not
reported at Djibouti for fuelling
• so the search operations started but no use they
cant find anything

5. SEARCH EFFORTS
• There was a delay in the search effort, which
started only on 16 July 1979. The Indian
Navy was alerted and undertook
reconnaissance flights in the area. After
making several flights in the area from
where Kairali had sent the last message, they
gave up search operations. The inquiry
conducted by the Indian Navy and Lloyd's of
London declared Kairali missing some 500
miles off Margao.

6. PROBABLE CAUSES OF LOSS
• The exact reason the ship went missing is still unknown. The following causes have been attributed
by the relatives of crew members and people who worked in shipping industry
• Excess cargo, the ship had a capacity of 19,000 tonnes, allegedly carried 20,500 tonnes of iron ore
during the voyage in total disregard of safety norms. Also the mandatory process of balancing the
cargo after it was loaded was not followed. This would have caused the cargo to shift in rough
waves and eventually she could have sunk in high waves.
• Faulty Radar, There is an allegation that the radar of the ship was under damage and Captain
Mariyadas Joseph of MV Kairali refused to set sail on the morning of 3 July. But he was forced to
commence the journey on the evening of the same day without repairing the radar.
• Bad weather, Owing to bad weather and rough waves the ship may have broken into pieces and
sunk in high seas.
• Pirate attack ,The ship may have been subject to a hijacking by pirates and the crew members taken
to some uninhabited islands to fend for themselves, while the ship was taken to another location.
As the ship was rumoured to have a faulty radar the pirates could not be detected before they
attacked the vessel.
• Kairali was sailing with a cargo of iron ore in the month of July, which is a peak monsoon month. In
all probablities the vessel may have loaded cargo with high moisture content and possibly
exceeding the TML. This may have given rise to a condition were the cargo may have liquefied and
eventually causing the vessel to capsize.

7. CRITICISMS
• Delay in search operations: There was a delay of about
12 days in starting the search operations. The delay
was inexplicable given that the captain and
headquarters exchanged a routine message every noon
during the voyage.
• Delay in releasing information to public domain The
ship's disappearance was publicly announced only after
a Kerala Shipping Corporation agent in Djibouti
contacted the company's headquarters in Kochi on 11
July, informing them of the ship's failure to arrive. The
vessel was supposed to have docked in Djibouti on 8
July. The news appeared in the Kerala’s press only on
15 July.

8. COMPENSATION
• The ship was insured, and an insurance claim
of 6.40 crores was paid to the Kerala Shipping
Corporation (KSC) by the insurance company.