MS Bulk Jupiter


Bulk Jupiter was a Bahamas registered cargo ship. She sank off the coast of Vietnam on 1 January 2015.

History

Sinking

On 2 January 2015 Bulk Jupiter sank off the coast of Vũng Tàu, Vietnam. She departed from Kuantan, Malaysia on 30 December 2014 with a cargo of 46,400 tons of bauxite and a crew of 19 Filipinos.
The Vietnam Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center and The Japanese Coast Guard received distress signals at 22:54 hours UTC on 1 January in position lat 9".01' 01:001N, long 109" 15' 26.01E from Bulk Jupiter, but were unable to make contact with the vessel.
Dispatched rescue vessels found one crew member, the ship's cook, who refused to cooperate. Later searches found two other bodies. The remaining 16 crew members are presumed dead.
Early reports indicated that the likely cause of the sinking was sudden loss of stability from the bauxite cargo.

Investigation and corrective action

has approved a circular to warn ship's masters about the liquefaction hazards of bauxite.