Lessons from Marine Accident Reports
The UK MAIB has recently issued latestSafety Digest including lessons learnt from maritime accidents. One case, hihlights how important teamwork is onboard.
It was a calm night on the east coast of England and the visibility was good when a pilot boat collided at speed with a container vessel. The pilot boat suffered significant damage to its bow area but was able to return to harbour under its own power. One of the crew on board was injured and required evacuation by lifeboat.
The pilot boat was well equipped with navigation and communications equipment.There were two crew on board: the coxswain and a relief coxswain. The relief coxswain, acting as the second crewman, was at the helm. He had planned to approach the container ship’s port side, then pass around its stern before collecting the pilot from the ship’sboarding ladder on its starboard side.
However, as the pilot boat approached the container ship, instead of turning to starboard to pass under the container ship’s stern, it made a slow turn to port and collided with the container ship’s side. At the point of collision,the pilot boat was still at full speed.
It is evident that the relief coxswain lost situational awareness, but he had no recollection as to why. During the final approach to the container ship, the coxswain was not monitoring the pilot boat’s position as he had become distracted by completing an entry in the ship’s log.
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Lessons learnt
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Source: UK MAIB
