The root cause of many groundings and collisions, lost anchors are among the top five reasons for claims costs. Anchor and chain loss can often lead to collisions and grounding, which can result in additional damage to a vessel. Adding to the costs of anchor loss is the increasingly common requirement from port authorities that lost anchors are recovered.
Freighter Loses Anchor off Netherlands:
The general cargo ship Fluvius Taw (2998 gt, built 2000, IMO 9195858, Lloyds classified, Barbados flagged, Netherlands owned and managed) lost its starboard side anchor and two shackles when it encountered bad weather in the southern North Sea off the coast of the Netherlands (lat 52 10.07N, long 003 43.01E) on 26th November. There has been no information on whether an attempt will be made to recover the equipment
German Tanker Loses Anchor off Netherlands:
The double hulled chemical/oil products tanker Ursula Essberger (4807 gt, built 2011, IMO 9480992, BV classified, Netherlands flagged, German owned and managed) lost its port side anchor and 3 shackles when it encountered bad weather in the southern North Sea off the coast of the Netherlands (lat 52 31.09N, long 04 20.40E) on 23rd November. There has been no information on whether an attempt will be made to recover the equipment.
Danish Tanker Loses Anchor off Netherlands:
The double hulled chemical/oil products tanker Orasund (3691 gt, built 2008, IMO 9336701, DNV-GL classified, Denmark International flagged, Danish owned and managed) lost its starboard side anchor and 5 shackles when it encountered bad weather in the southern North Sea off the coast of the Netherlands (lat 52 27.4N, long 04 04.45E) on 23rd November. There has been no information on whether an attempt will be made to recover the equipment.
A rising number of anchor losses reported over the last several years prompted DNV GL to investigate this issue. Based on analysis of damage cases involving anchor and anchor chain losses, they want to discover the most frequent technical and operational causes.
