202539 Close call in fog

As edited from SHK (Sweden) 2025-15

In fog, a passenger vessel was outbound in restricted waterway at 15 knots. The bridge team noticed an inbound commuter boat on the radar that appeared to be trending to its own port side. They decided to head slightly to port as well to give more room, presuming a starboard-to-starboard meeting, although no communication with the commuter boat had taken place.

Meanwhile, on the inbound commuter boat with 10 passengers on board, the Master was having problems with the starboard engine. An alarm was incessantly sounding. In attempting to silence the alarm the Master ‘emergency stopped’ the engine by mistake. He was then in telephone contact with the company’s technical support while he and the deckhand tried to restart the engine. While still making 13 knots on the port engine, the Master was also manually steering the vessel. During this time, they had imperceptibly made way to their port side, that is, to the opposite side of the fairway. Soon after the starboard engine had been re-started, the two crew members on the bridge realized the outbound passenger vessel was almost directly in front of them.

The Master of the commuter boat applied engine power and turned sharply to starboard. The bridge team on the outbound passenger vessel saw the commuter boat coming out of the fog towards them and turning sharply to starboard, so they also initiated a turn to starboard. The vessels passed clear of each other by 10m.

 

Lessons learned

• The Master of the commuter boat was overcome by numerous complex tasks and telephone communications while attempting to manually steer in fog. This is a good lesson in setting priorities; what is more important, continuing to make way at 13 knots or the safety of your vessel?
• Steering manually in fog needs your 100% attention.
• Making 13 knots can reasonably be considered too fast given a restricted waterway in thick fog while meeting other vessels and attending to other tasks.
• Always adjust your speed to the weather conditions and the operational circumstances.
• Assuming an unconventional meeting such as starboard to starboard in a restricted waterway and low visibility without validating with the opposing vessel is a risky proposition.