94007 Pilot Station Congestion, Wandelaar
Congestion at Pilot Station
- Area around Wandelaar Pilot Station.
- Report No. 94007.
Having transitted the area twice in a 30 hour period prior to the British Trent collision, I am not surprised that a major accident occurred. Traffic separation is good in the approaches to the Wandelaar with separate east and west bound lanes up to the Kwintebank buoy, however, due to shallows north of the SW Akkaert buoys all deep draught traffic passes south of these buoys, it then becomes a "free for all" between inward and outward traffic meeting at the pilot station.
On our inward passage, traffic was not particularly heavy. There was one vessel ahead of us expecting to take a pilot but as he was bound for the port of Flushing he was required to take a Dutch pilot, and at the time, there were none available. Approximately 30 minutes before arrival at the station he was therefore advised to stop and wait for further information. The vessel, however, continued towards the pilot station and decided to wait in that area. With a SW force 7 wind blowing it was impossible for him to maintain his heading and he ended up turning completely round and heading outwards. Luckily there was no outward traffic at the time and it was good visibility, it would have been very confusing in fog.
After the initial contact with the pilots regarding our ETA and pilot boarding arrangements, no further contact was made.Another inward vessel came up astern of me and asked the pilot cutter if he should slot in behind me or continue towards the cutter, he was advised to do the latter and it was left to me to contact him and ask him to slot in behind me. I consider that "turn" numbers should be allocated to ships before they approach the pilot station.
On our outward passage it was calm and clear, traffic however, was heavy. There were 4 outward and 4 inward vessels waiting at the cutter. Own vessel was third in line to disembark the pilot. Prior to departure the pilot advised me that, because there were so many vessels in the area and as it was high water, it would be prudent for me to steam north of the SW Akkaert buoys to avoid the congestion. This proved to be invaluable advice. After the pilot had disembarked, both this vessel and the one close ahead were heading between SW and WSW with an inbound vessel showing red on our starboard bows. This meant that we very quickly had to alter to starboard. I followed the pilot's advice and set a course to pass north of the SW Akkaert buoys. The vessel who had been close ahead of us avoided the first inbound vessel but having set a course to pass south of the buoys found herself in a very close quarters situation with the next inbound vessel and I was amazed how she managed to avoid hitting either this vessel or the buoys. In the meantime we had managed to get ahead of her and clear of all inbound traffic by passing north of the buoys. At low water I would also have had to pass south and the situation could have been very different. I feel that the British Trent probably found herself in a similar situation.
I consider that the pilotage boarding area should be moved, possibly to a position in the centre of the east and west lanes NW of the Kwintebank buoy, so that inward and outward bound vessels can be kept completely separate. This would mean that all vessels would have a pilot on board before passing the SW Akkaert buoys. With more ships operating with inexperienced crews something definitely needs to be done and I am just so angry and sad that it has taken an accident such as this for me to put pen to paper.
The approach to any busy pilot station requires extreme care. With vessels slowing down, manoeuvring to make a lee, keeping an eye on the pilot boarding and leaving, and frequently ordering full ahead as soon as the pilot boat is clear. I believe that a few years ago there was a plan drawn up to relocate this particular pilot station nearer to the entrance of the Scheur Channel. I do not know why this was not put into effect but I consider that one serious drawback to the proposals would have been the difficult situation created with traffic entering the Scheur from the north west, several of which do not take a pilot.