Mars Report 2013
The Nautical Institute has published Mars Report No. 56 regarding a vessel that had a head on collision with a small unlit island during the night.
The vessel’s course line passed directly over this small island, a fact that was overlooked by the navigation team. Point to note is that the vessel was using a chart with no colour tints. In modern charts, shallow patches are more easily visible due to the use of contrasting colours, as recommended in the current chart specifications of the International Hydrographic Organization.
All officers must check the sounding for 10-20 miles on each side of the course track in their watch and be aware of any other dangers. Besides this, the officer who prepares the courses must check the soundings for all the charts and mark the dangers very clearly on the chart.
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The Nautical Institute note When establishing and especially when checking the vessel’s passage plan, charts of the largest scale should always be used. Small unlit islands can be anywhere and a course drawn across seemingly empty ocean on small scale charts is just the formula for a grounding that could have easily been avoided. Of course, keeping a sharp lookout is also a watchkeeping task that may have helped avoid this accident. |
Source: The Nautical Institute
