Transport Malta has issued marine safety investigation report into the collision allegedly involving the Maltese registered ro-ro cargo vessel FIDES and the Italian fishing boat NIKA, December 02, 2014 in the Adriatic Sea.
The Incident
On 02 December 2014, at 1309(UTC), the Italian fishing boat Nika was involved in a collision in the Adriatic Sea in position 43° 30.0’ N 014° 42.7’ E. At the time, Nika was engaged in trawling operations, was on a North Northwest heading and making less than three knots. The vessel which rammed the fishing boat continued on her voyage without altering course and / or reducing speed.
Ro-ro cargo vessel Fides, which was also allegedly involved in the collision, was on a Southeasterly course from Monfalcone, Italy to Derince, Izmit, Turkey with a speed of 14.5 knots.
No one was injured and Nika’s three crew members were rescued by another fishing boat (Giglio Del Mare), which was also engaged in fishing operations in the area. However, Nika sustained severe damages in way of her port bow area, which was totally destroyed by the collision. About 25 minutes after the collision, she lost her reserve buoyancy and foundered within the area.
No pollution was reported, however, the fishing boat sunk with about 400 litres of gas
oil on board.
Following careful analysis of the evidence made available to the safety investigation, the MSIU is of the firm opinion that Fides was the vessel involved in the collision with Nika on 02 December 2014.
In this respect, two recommendations were made to the managers of Fides aimed to address navigational safety and effective watchkeeping.
Conclusions
After considering carefully the available evidence obtained from the vessel and other fishing vessels, the MSIU believes that Nika was involved in a collision with Fides at about 1309 (UTC) on 02 December 2014, in position 43° 30.0’ N 014° 42.7’ E.
The safety investigation has highlighted the following safety factors, which are not listed in any order of priority:
- No action was taken by the OOW when an audio alarm signal (buzzer) triggered at approximately 1304, possibly by the ARPA radar when it had automatically acquired and subsequently tracked the fishing boat Nika as a target, after it entered the acquisition / guard zone (ARPA radar default surveillance area) set at minimum distance from own ship (Fides) of 1.1 nm.
- The decision to leave a relatively inexperienced OOW alone on watch without assigning a dedicated look-out and having only one of the two radar sets in use was considered a risky approach, with no evidence of an adequate and thorough assessment in terms of navigational safety risks.\
- The OOW did not carry out observations by sight to assess the situation and any possible hazards in the vicinity of vessel’s navigation area.
- Manual target tracking, CPA and TCPA radar alarms were not activated during the navigational watch.
- The watchkeeping on the fishing vessel was not effective and the skipper did not make a full appraisal of the situation.
- The skipper did not take actions to avoid the approaching vessel as obliged under the relevant provisions of the COLREGs.
Further details about the collision may be found by reading the following investigation report:
Source: Transport Malta
