Catalytic link averts crisis

When class surveyor Panagiotis Katsinellos began a routine document trawl on a chemical tanker detained in Heraklion, Crete, the situation turned into a full-scale emergency – and an excellent display of teamwork.

Katsinellos, a surveyor for a leading classification society and a fellow at both RINA and IMarEST, had been dispatched to the vessel, which for the purposes of this story we will call the MV Crete, after port state control (PSC) had detained the vessel, requiring the crew to update critical documentation.

Shortly after his arrival onboard MV Crete, a fire in the engine room set off alarms, and changed the whole nature of the visit,