The incident
A bulk carrier, running behind schedule, encountered grounding issues while attempting to enter a tidally constrained harbour. The first grounding occurred due to the ebb stream pushing the ship off its approach track. After being freed with stern power, a second grounding took place during a second approach. The ship had to wait for the next high tide to float off and faced a delay of 12.5 hours. Although undamaged, the bulk carrier received a detention notice during a port state inspection.
The Lessons
- Plan →Tides do not bend to the will of mariners and accommodate their schedules. Given that the pilot and master had missed the predicted high water time by 16 minutes, the first attempt into the harbour already posed a challenge while the second attempt, some 40 minutes later, was optimistic. It is often best to wait for the right conditions, regardless of operational pressures.
- Communicate → After the accident it emerged that neither the master nor the pilot was happy with the attempted port entry. However, they did not broach the subject with one another or question the plan. The International Chamber of Shipping Bridge Procedures Guide, Sixth Edition, provides advice on leadership, challenge and response and thinking aloud to best practice operations on board. Talking about the tides and environmental conditions as part of a thinking-aloud exercise can enable good decisions to be made and ensure that all are aware of the risks.
- Hazard →The shoal at the harbour entrance was charted and recognised as a hazard on the ship’s pilotage plan. However, it appears that everyone had become accustomed to the risk it presented. Dredging is not always the right answer and so for each act of pilotage, it is vital to ensure that there is a positive acknowledgement of the conditions, which will differ each time. In this case, the winds were light and did not counter the effect of the strong ebb stream.
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Source: MAIB
