Under the leadership of ClassNK Executive Vice President Toshitomo Matsui, the ClassNK Casualty Investigation Team is carrying out a rigorous and exhaustive investigation of the causes of the MOL Comfort casualty, the classification society said in a press release.
This analysis work is proceeding rapidly, and ClassNK expects to consolidate its preliminary findings by early September 2013.
Based on the current findings of the ongoing investigation and analysis, the ClassNK Casualty Investigation Team has determined that the damage leading to the loss of the MOL Comfort did not originate from the vessel’s upper deck area or hatch side coaming.
As a preventative safety measure, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines have developed plans to further increase the hull strength of the MOL Comfort’s sister vessels. These plans have been approved by ClassNK.
Nippon Kaiji Kyokai, known as ClassNK or NK, is a ship classification society. The Society is actively engaged in a growing range of ship related activities and services aimed at contributing to promoting the protection of human life and property at sea as well as protection of the marine environment. The Head Office is located in Tokyo and in Chiba, Japan, and there are branch offices at the major Japanese and overseas cities throughout the world. As of the end of February 2013, the Society had 8,270 ships over 212 million g.t. under class. This figure represents approximately 20% of the world merchant fleet currently under class.
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