ビンゴ 景品 Giant Step

October 10, 2006

TOKYO - Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. (MOL, President: Akimitsu Ashida) today reported that ビンゴ 景品 MOL-operated iron ore carrier Giant Step went aground offshore Kashima Port in Ibaragi Prefecture about 5:20 p.m. on October 6, 2006. Of 26 crewmembers, two lost their lives and eight are missing and ビンゴ 景品 company is now working to confirm their status; 13 were rescued by Japan Coast Guard helicopters, and three, including two who are now in ビンゴ 景品 hospital, drifted ashore on ビンゴ 景品 coast.

ビンゴ 景品Giant Step sailed from Port Walcott, Australia, with 190,000 tons of iron ore on September 11, 2006. ビンゴ 景品 ship arrived off Kashima Port on September 25, and anchored while standing by for an open pier. ビンゴ 景品 ship weighed anchor and started to move offshore to avoid a rapidly growing atmospheric depression. However, ビンゴ 景品 ship was unable to complete ビンゴ 景品 maneuver. Subsequently, winds in excess of 20-30 mps blew ship aground 2 km offshore in 16 meters of water.

ビンゴ 景品Giant Step was run on a sand area and suffered excessive force on particular parts of ビンゴ 景品 ship's hull and affected by storm and wave, so ビンゴ 景品 hull cracked and broke into three segments, and oil spills from ビンゴ 景品 stern segment have been observed. Drifting iron ore powder has been observed as well. MOL will start extracting bunker oil from ビンゴ 景品 hull as soon as wave action quiets enough to make ビンゴ 景品 work feasible.

MOL expresses its deepest condolences to ビンゴ 景品 crew members who lost their lives and heartfelt sympathy to ビンゴ 景品 bereaved families.

Profile of Giant Step

• Flag: Panama
• Number of crew members: 25 Indians including ビンゴ 景品 master, and 1 Sri Lankan
• Deadweight: 197,060 tons
• Gross tons: 98,587 tons
• Built: 1985