Ship collided within a narrow geographical area and in a very short span of time
DMAIB issued a marine accident report regardingthe collision between KRASLAVA and ATLANTIC LADY on 1 November 2014.
On 1 November 2014, the Marshall Islands-registered chemical/products tanker KRASLAVA collided in restricted visibility with the St. Kitts & Nevis-registered refrigerated cargo ship ATLANTIC LADY in the Drogden Channel in the southern part of the Sound, Denmark.
The bridge team on each ships was aware of the other ships presence in the channel, but both misjudged their own and the other ships position. When the actual situation was acknowledged on both ships, it was too late to manoeuvre to avoid the collision.
In this report, the Danish Maritime Accident Investigation Board (DMAIB) focuses on three main topics in the investigation of the collision: Navigational and collision avoidance measures, geographical properties of the southern area of the Drogden Channel, and the application of COLREG in a close-quarters situation with restricted visibility.
The DMAIB concludes that the collision happened as several coinciding factors were present within a narrow geographical area and occurred within a very short span of time. This reduced the margin for failure to an extent that was not recognized by either of the bridge teams.
A prior analysis of the navigation in the southern approach to the Drogden Channel proved the area difficult to navigate within, and initiatives to improve the flow of traffic were recommended in order to avoid future groundings and allisions with buoys. The DMAIB emphasizes that this accident shows that these initiatives could also mitigate the risk of collision.
| Conclusions |
|
ATLANTIC LADY and KRASLAVA collided in the Drogden Channel on 1 November 2014 at 1419 in dense fog. The collision was the result of several factors that coincided within a short timeframe that created a risk of collision, which was not recognized by the bridge teams on either ship until within a minute of the collision. These factors included restricted visibility, navigating in a narrow channel, the north-easterly current, a pilot boat being alongside KRASLAVA, and ATLANTIC LADY making a large course alteration. Individually these factors did not constitute a recognizable significant risk, but in conjunction they created a small margin between success and failure; a safety margin that was based on whether the ships were positioned 50-100 metres to each side of the channel. Passing at small distances is usually not problematic in channels when the ships are on opposite courses, but in this instance, when both ships were impaired by restricted visibility and one of the ships was to make large course alterations, then the situation became unstable, because they could not rely on instrumentation alone due to the ships close proximity to each other. The factor instrumental in the collision was thus that ATLANTIC LADYs approach to the Drogden Channel, in the absence of other better alternatives, necessitated a large turning manoeuvre. Due to thenorth-easterly current and the restricted visibility, which delayed the start of the turn until buoy no. 16 was abeam, the turning manoeuvre brought the ship into the centre of the channel, where it crossed ahead of KRASLAVA. An analysis of navigation in the southern approach to the Drogden Channel made in 2009 by The Danish Maritime Safety Administration showed that the area was difficult to navigate in, and recommended initiatives to improve the flow of traffic in the area; primarily for avoiding groundings and allisions with the buoys. This accident shows that risk of collisions can also be mitigated by these initiatives. |
You may view the report by clicking below:
Source and Image Credit:DMAIB
