A loaded bulk carrier arrived at an anchorage off a busy port. Once at anchor, the plan was to use the ship’s cranes to discharge the cargo of scrap steel into self-propelled lightering barges made fast alongside both sides.
After the cargo lightering operation had begun, the vessel was observed to be dragging anchor in a southerly direction. There was a low under keel clearance and strong currents, so the main engine was used to slow the movement of the...