WATCHOUT ‘Too little, too late’ results in a grounded tanker
In this series, we take a look at maritime accident reports and the lessons that can be learned.
What happened?
A fully laden tanker was transporting a cargo of unleaded petrol when she ran aground on a sandy shoal. Prior to this, passage had progressed normally from leaving port, and a coastal pilot had boarded the vessel as scheduled. A 25-knot wind caused the tanker to move one mile off her planned track. Despite the pilot making some adjustments to the heading, this anomaly could not be corrected in time and the ship moved inexorably towards the reef. The tanker’s bow ran aground. The hull remained intact and there was no pollution, however, some damage was later discovered on the bow. Water ballast taken onboard prevented the vessel from being pushed further onto the reef before she was refloated on the flooding tide and manoeuvred clear.
Why did it happen?
The tanker’s bridge team did not monitor the vessel’s position and progress effectively, and so did not spot the wrong course early enough. The course alteration was ‘too little, too late’. Safety issues were also discovered in the passage planning procedures. If the bridge resources available had been used effectively to follow the passage plan, the crew could have taken adequate and timely action to correct the course, and the grounding could have been avoided.
The issues
- Inadequate monitoring of vessel’s position and progress
- Failure to correct course in time
- Failure to define off-track limits
- Poor bridge resource management
- Safety concerns revealed in passage planning and other bridge team procedures
What changes have been made?
- The tanker’s company has revised its shipboard safety management system procedures to ensure off-track limits are specified for each leg of the passage plan
- A safety alert was issued to all managed ships, highlighting the importance of effective BRM
- Training to support these measures has been extended to include modules on ‘navigational safety’