24 March 2016
Shoreham Port handles a variety of cargoes including timber, steel, woodchip, crushed glass, aggregates and oil to name a few. Over the year roughly 900 commercial ships of different style and size pass through the Port bringing in these valued commodities.
One of the ships loaded with grain was detained last November by Port State Control (PSC) for a number of defects. The ship became a permanent feature on the horizon for passer-by’s along the A259 for a while and the Port started to receive queries about the nature of her stay.
The vessel named United Ocean was detained and eventually released on the 14th March by Port State Control (PSC) and sailed from Shoreham Port on Saturday 19th March. United Ocean is owned by Premier Shipping and Trading SA and is crewed by a Russian and Eastern European crew. It is understood that the majority of the faults were due to the age of the vessel. The crew of the United Ocean were supported by a number of bodies to resolve the issues on board.
The vessel has now gone to anchor and is awaiting orders. Before too long the terminal that she occupied will be home to a new ship, continuing the steady flow of import and export throughout Sussex.
Julian Seaman, Harbour Master/Director of Marine Operations commented “Shoreham Port is pleased that the vessel has been released and has now sailed. We would like to thank Clarkson Port Services (as agents only) and the owners of United Ocean for working closely with the Port whilst berthing in Shoreham.”
