NTSB conclusions on Houston Ship Channel collision

NTSB meet to determine the probable cause

The National Transportation Safety Board has recently met to determine the probable cause of the March 22, 2014 collision in the Houston Ship Channel involving the Summer Wind, a bulk carrier and the Miss Susan, a tow pushing two barges. As a result of the collision, a barge was breached releasing 168,000 gallons of fuel in the water. Two crew members were treated for inhalation-related injuries.

NTSB has issued a synopsis of the report not including the Board’s rationale for the conclusions, probable cause, and safety recommendations. NTSB staff is currently making final revisions to the report from which the attached conclusions and safety recommendations have been extracted. The final report and pertinent safety recommendation letters will be distributed to recommendation recipients as soon as possible.

Executive Summary

On March 22, 2014, about 1235 central daylight time, the 607-foot-long bulk carrier Summer Wind with a Houston pilot on board collided with the 670-foot-long Miss Susan tow (a 70-foot-long towing vessel and two 300-foot-long tank barges loaded with fuel oil) in the Houston Ship Channel, Lower Galveston Bay, Texas. The visibility was restricted at the time due to fog. The bulk carrier was inbound to Houston, traveling in a north direction. The tow was bound for Port Bolivar on the east side of the Houston Ship Channel, traveling in an east direction.

The collision breached the hull of the forward tank barge in the Miss Susan tow, and about 168,000 gallons of fuel oil spilled into the waterway. Two crewmembers on board the Miss Susan sustained minor injuries related to inhalation of fuel vapor. The total estimated damage was nearly $1,378,000 (excluding oil response and recovery efforts).

The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the collision was the Miss Susan captains attempt to cross the Houston Ship Channel ahead of the Summer Wind, thereby impeding the passage of the bulk carrier, which could transit only within the confines of the channel. Contributing to the accident was the failure of the Houston pilot and the Summer Wind master to set a safe speed given the restricted visibility and nearby towing vessel traffic, and the failure of the Miss Susan captain and the Houston pilot to establish early radio communication with one another. Also contributing to the accident was the failure of Vessel Traffic Service Houston/Galveston to interact with the two vessels in a developing risk of collision, and the lack of a Coast Guard vessel separation policy for the Bolivar Roads Precautionary Area.

Findings

• Vessel propulsion and steering systems, medical conditions and medication use, alcohol and illegal drug use, and distraction from personal electronic devices were not factors in this accident.

• The Miss Susan captain should not have attempted to cross the Houston Ship Channel ahead of the Summer Winds passage, especially given the restricted visibility and the bulk carriers ability to navigate only within the confines of the channel.

• Given the restricted visibility and the towing vessel traffic in the Bolivar Roads Precautionary Area at the time, the pilot on the Summer Wind should not have given an order for the bulk carrier to transit at full-ahead speed.

• The Summer Wind master should have questioned the pilots decision to transit at full-ahead speed given the restricted visibility and nearby towing vessel traffic.

• Sufficient information existed via radar, automatic identification system, and radio communications from both the Miss Susan and the Summer Wind for the vessel operators to know of each others intended passages, but despite the availability of this information neither the Miss Susan captain nor the pilot on the Summer Wind took early action to avoid the collision.

• Vessel Traffic Service Houston/Galveston did not effectively follow its own internal operating procedures to guard channel 13.

• In the minutes leading up to the collision, Vessel Traffic Service Houston/Galveston did not maintain an effective watch, diminishing its ability to recognize a developing risk of collision and to interact with the vessel operators.

• With several intersecting waterways, high-density vessel traffic, and diverse types of vessels with differing speeds and maneuvering characteristics, the Bolivar Roads Precautionary Area is a high-risk section in Vessel Traffic Service Houston/Galvestons area of responsibility, and the Coast Guards failure to develop and implement a vessel separation policy for this section contributed to the collision.

• Consistently entering the complete dimensions of tow configurations for individual transits into automatic identification systems would alleviate misinterpretation and possible confusion from inaccurate information, and thus enhance safety.

• In response to the oil spill, effective communications and coordination were established and maintained between the responsible parties, the Coast Guard, local and state response agencies, and oil spill removal organizations.

• The actions taken to recover spilled oil to minimize further environmental damage were timely and appropriate.

• Because of the Miss Susan crewmembers incomplete assessment of the material safety data sheet, lack of being provided required direct-reading testing equipment, and their assumptions about the nature of the cargo, the Miss Susan crewmembers did not fully assess the need for respiratory protection during their emergency response following the collision.

• The Miss Susan crewmember training did not adequately prepare them to safely respond to the hazardous materials release.

• The inadequate federal oversight of mariner work safety on board uninspected towing vessels places crewmembers at greater risk of injury from exposure to hazardous materials and other safety hazards.

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