201760 Collision sinks fishing boat

 

Accident Investigation Board of Norway, Marine 2017-03

An LPG tanker was underway at 15 knots. The bridge was manned by an officer of the watch (OOW) and a lookout, and the tanker’s autopilot was engaged. Traffic was dense, with many cargo vessels and fishing boats in the vicinity. The OOW observed two fishing vessels on the radar at about 6.5nm, both on course towards the tanker on the port bow. Observations indicated that the fishing vessels would cross ahead of the LPG tanker with a closest point of approach (CPA) of 0.3nm.

The lookout told the officer that he could see the two fishing vessels on the port bow, that they displayed red over white lights and that the deck lights were on. The tanker’s course at the time was 356°.

Although it was not equipped with an AIS, one of the fishing vessels was plotted on the tanker’s radar and found to be heading 148° at close to 6 knots. After about 15 minutes the OOW on the tanker saw the fishing boat make a sudden change of course to starboard, straight towards the tanker. The tanker’s OOW ordered the lookout to take the helm and apply hard starboard rudder, but this was not sufficient to prevent a collision between the two vessels in the next few minutes.

The bridge team on the fishing boat was not using radar and their vision to starboard was blocked by a provisional sleeping cabin built in front of the windows on the starboard side of the wheelhouse. They did not see the LPG tanker until the collision occurred.

The tanker’s bow hit the fishing vessel on its starboard side, pinning it on the bow as they reduced speed, which took about 10 minutes. After the vessels disengaged the fishing vessel sank. Four of the five crew members from the fishing vessel were rescued while the fifth remained missing.

Lessons learned
- Even if you are the stand-on vessel, be prepared to take evasive action in sufficient time to avoid a collision if the give-way vessel remains a danger.
- If the CPA is small, ask about the intentions of vessels in your vicinity. This will get their attention and promote situational awareness.