The following guidelines should be kept in mind when the ship is aground and assistance is
required. The questions should be answered as detailed as possible and the complete information
is to be transmitted either by telex, e-mail or ship's telephone to the person in charge ashore.
When a ship has run aground various factors have to be considered before any action is taken.
Prior to any immediate refloating attempt the master should obtain full information about any
possible structural damage to the ship. If the ship is structurally intact and the surrounding
circumstances have been carefully considered, an immediate attempt may be made by using the
own engines and other means available within the ship, e. g. transferring of fuel and/or ballast
water within the ship, however always keeping in mind that such action is liable to cause additional
damage to the ship because of stresses rising beyond acceptable limits and changing stability
conditions.
If an early refloating attempt did not have any success or seems to be not reasonable, help from
outside will be necessary, either in the form of technical and/or nautical advice, lightening, tug
assistance or other means. To put the outside person(s), who in most of the cases will be the
owner of the ship and/or the representatives of the Hull and Machinery underwriters, in a position to
give qualified assistance a minimum amount of information is a must!
The following questionnaire has been developed on experience of grounding cases and accurate
answers to the respective questions will be most helpful to all parties concerned.