The ship's certification was issued by a management company to itself on behalf of the Republic of Sierra Leone, solely with the purpose of allowing the ship to sail on an international voyage and did not represent the ship's actual management or that any effective inspections of the ship or audits of the ship's safety management system had taken place.
ATSB safety recommendation
The ATSB recommends that the Sierra Leone International Ship Registry should address this safety issue.
Safety Action
The Sierra Leone Flag Administration has advised the ATSB that:
Sierra Leone Flag Administration has reviewed this case in order to establish an understanding of the situation.
The vessel was registered with Sierra Leone Flag with a special registration for one single voyage from Singapore to Nigeria (duration of the special registration is three months). The Recognized Organization, New United, issued the statutory certificates also for one voyage (duration of three months). In view of the grounding of the vessel in February 2008, we have requested the Recognized Organization to supply all information in regards to this vessel.
Kindly note that all statutory certificates issued on behalf of the Republic of Sierra Leone are duly reviewed by this Administration and any questions / concerns that the Administration could have about those certificates are presented to the issuing Recognized Organization and are duly explained to this Administration.