IMCA shares lessons learned from an incident where a crew transfer vessel (CTV) hit a nearby turbine tower at 0.5 knots.
What happened?
A crew transfer from a CTV to a Service Operation Vessel (SOV) was successfully completed. The SOV was 180 metres from a wind turbine generator (WTG) on the field. The CTV moved away from the SOV and propulsion controls were set to zero, and the crew continued to complete reporting and administrative tasks.
The CTV drifted into and hit the nearby structure at 0.5 knots, prompting the CTV Master to immediately move ahead and away to a safe area while vessel hull checks and reporting was carried out. The WTG asset was also inspected and some damage to the paintwork was noted. No-one was injured.
What went wrong?
- Administrative tasks were prioritised immediately after the crew transfer, rather than maintaining situational awareness.
- The instrumentation on the bridge of the CTV was not set up to warn of an imminent allision.
- Authority had been granted for the crew transfer to take place inside the WTG safety zone. The crew transfer should not have been authorised in this location.
Lessons learned
- The temptation to get administrative tasks out of the way should be resisted: Bridge crew should stay alert, maintain a good lookout and good situational awareness until a vessel is in a safe location after carrying out transfer operations.
– Is there sufficient time to do these administrative tasks? Are CTV bridges appropriately crewed?
- Work Authorisation should consider vessel position in relation to fixed assets as well as wind / sea conditions.
