'Tighten ship cargo rules' call

Two crewmen died onboard the Sava Lake in January

Accident investigators have called for hazardous cargo on ships to be more tightly regulated following the deaths of two seamen in the Channel.

The pair suffocated when oxygen levels dropped in a storage area of their vessel, the Sava Lake, in the Straits of Dover in January this year.

The Latvian-registered vessel was transporting ferrous metal turnings.

A report by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch said the ship was banned from carrying such a cargo.

The investigation was carried out in co-operation with the Maritime Administration of Latvia.

'Conflicting information'

The investigators' report said the turnings were liable to self-heat and therefore there was a possibility of the cargo hold's oxygen levels dropping.

The ship loaded parcels of the metal in Denmark before heading for Portugal.

However, the ship's master had received conflicting information about the properties of the metal before it was loaded up.

The Sava Lake container ship was carrying banned material

"Notwithstanding this uncertainty, the master accepted the cargo which was in fact....ferrous metal turnings," the report said.

The report also stated that action by an earlier crew had created a direct air path from the cargo hold to a forward store and air from the hold "almost certainly migrated" there.

It was not known why the crewmen entered the storage area.

The Sava Lake diverted to Dover after the two bodies were found on January 18 at the bottom of the access ladder inside the forward store.

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has recommended a series of measures following the deaths in its report.

These are designed to ensure hazardous or potentially hazardous cargoes are properly identified and described in cargo documents.