Grounding of a container ship

A case study

27 March 2008

Anglo Eastern Maritime Training Centre - BTM

Version 1.0

Narrative

A 25,000 tonne container vessel was approaching port following a short coastal passage. The bridge team consisted of the master, the OOW and the helmsman. Master had the con. OOW was plotting the vessels positions on a paper chart using only GPS

 The approach to the port required the vessel to enter an inlet several miles wide and then alter course into a bay in which the port was located.

The masters plan.

It was a warm and calm day with slight haze and no significant tide. Engines were on stand-by and speed reduced to 14 kts. Master intended to alter course by 40 by putting the wheel over some distance before the alteration point; however he did not advise the OOW of his intentions.

 At the chart table, the OOW was in the process of changing charts and was transferring the vessels position onto the new chart. The master called out to ask him if the vessel was 0.5 miles from the alteration point. The OOW, presumably not wishing to point out that he had not put down the position on the new chart, replied yes.

 The master accordingly ordered the helmsman to bring the vessel to the new course. The OOW plotted the ships position on the new chart using GPS and realized that they had altered too soon. The ship was proceeding at 14 kts towards the shallows. The OOW alerted the master.

 The master observed the south cardinal buoy on the starboard bow which he had expected to be on the port bow.

Hard a starboard!

The master immediately ordered the helmsman to put the wheel hard to starboard

 The vessel had just started to swing when she ran aground. The vessel spent 24 hours aground before being pulled off by salvage tugs. Fortunately the bottom in that area was soft mud and the vessel was found to be undamaged.

Discuss
Was the passage plan adequate? Was the bridge team following correct bridge procedures? Did the master and OOW share a common mental picture? Was the masters question regarding vessels position appropriate? Was the OOW assertive enough?

Lessons learnt

What can we do to avoid an incident like this?

NO GO

w/o

Mark no-go areas Use all available means for position-fixing. Use parallel indexing for maintaining track Use CRT for accurate turn in restricted waters. Use P.I. for monitoring arrival at w/o position. Use clearing bearings to avoid dangers. Brief the bridge team about intended passage.