Transport Malta has issued safety investigation report referring to a serious injury incident onboard MV SOVEREIGN during mooring operation.
The incident
Sovereign, a Maltese registered passenger ship was on a Mediterranean cruise with 2733 passengers. She arrived at Livorno, Italy on 08 October 2015. The bridge was manned by the master, staff captain, chief mate, second mate, helmsman and a pilot. It was day-time and the weather conditions were good. Upon arrival, Sovereign turned around for a port side berthing at Alto Fondale Pier. At 0720 (LT), she was in position with her bow about 33 m past the corner of the pier. This was her assigned berth.
The mooring ropes fore and aft were run ashore. The chief mate was in charge of the aft mooring station. At 0721, the aft backspring was secured and held taut on winch W3. The crew then sent out stern lines from winch WW3 and W4 while the first mate monitored progress from the stern. At the forward mooring station, all lines from the bow were leading aft. At 0723/30s, the master ordered ‘finish with engine’ and the pilot left the bridge. Two minutes later the stern started to yaw out and the assistant bosun heard the backspring stretch. He warned the chief mate as he walked clear of the snapback zones to check.
Moments later, at 0727/51s, the back-spring parted. The whiplash of the broken line hit a CO2 bottle on the port side bulkhead and a steel stanchion before striking the first mate behind winch WW3. The staff captain, who was on the bridge, observed the vessel moving astern at 0.1 knot. He instructed the forward mooring station to slacken the head ropes, and requested power on the stern thruster. The two gangways set out for passengers and guests were immediately removed. In time, the astern movement was controlled and at 0734 Sovereign was pulled alongside and safely moored.
Cause Recommendations Further details may be found in the safety investigation report below Source & Image credit: Transport Malta
Forces applied on mooring ropes at one station have significant impact on vessels and on moorings at the other station. Therefore, the readily available ship propulsion and communication to control and coordinate mooring activities are vital to conclude mooring operations safely. Sovereign was manoeuvred in position by means of her thrusters and engines. However, the ‘finished with engines’ and the pilot’s departure had effectively terminated the berthing operations during the course of the vessel’s mooring. With no propulsion power and loss of bridge control, heaving of the head ropes to hold her bow alongside pivoted the vessel and triggered the momentum. The vessel started to move astern and stern out from the pier. The combined force of the vessel’s movement and yaw tensed and snapped the aft backspring. During the course of the safety investigation, it was noticed that there was ample berthing space behind the vessel, which if used would have significantly improved the direction of the head ropes and probably altered the course of events. However, no explanation was found in the submitted evidence as to why this space was left unoccupied by Sovereign.
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