Cement carrier detained again

A cement carrier operated by Norway’s Kristian Gerhard Jebsen that was detained in the US for security failings on the first day the new law came into effect has been held again. The Danish-flag, 27,100dwt Cozumel Cement (built 1984) was detained in Port Canaveral, Florida, on 26 January after four stowaways from Colombia were discovered.  On 1 July last year, when the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS) came into effect worldwide, the same ship was one of several held by the US Coast Guard (USCG). Its five-day detention was also for safety failings, which included fuel leaks in the engine-room and the master’s unfamiliarity with both the ISPS Code and the International Safety Management Code.

Five weeks later, the cement carrier, which trades regularly between Venezuela and the US on charter to Cemex USA, was involved in a robbery attempt at Pertigalete in Venezuela. An alert crew is said to have thwarted two men trying to board, forcing them to escape empty-handed.  The Jebsen bulker is classified under Det Norske Veritas (DNV). The Norwegian classification society, along with ClassNK of Japan and two obscure Panamanian organisations, are the only USCG-targeted Recognised Security Organisations (RSOs) having been involved in more than one "major control action" - detention, expulsion or denial of entry - in the last 12 months.