The Panama Maritime Authority (AMP) collaborates with the investigation of the accident of the Panamanian-flagged ship Wakashio, and published its first statement.
So far, the competent authorities have been able to confirm that on July 25, the Wakashio ship diverted its navigation plan, approved at the time of sailing from Singapore bound for Brazil. The modification could be related to the celebration of the birthday of one of the crew members.
The ship leaked more than 1,000 tonnes of bunker fuel and split in two after its grounding on July 25.
As far as the evidence shows, AMP says that through statements by the same crew, the change of course was produced by indications of the captain of the boat, who gave instructions to approach about 5 miles away from the coast of Isla Mauricio, looking for a telephone and Internet signal, so that the crew members could communicate with their families.
It should be noted that the captain of the ship, the chief engineer and the first officer were on the navigation bridge when this improper approach took place, which caused a dangerous situation alerted, in the first instance, by the Mauritian authorities.
According to the analysts, with a safe guard and applying good seamanship practices, a proper analysis of the situation would have allowed taking the pertinent actions to correct the course and avoid the accident.
On the navigation bridge there were people with enough experience in assessing the problem. An erroneous assessment of the Electronic Nautical Chart could also be verified, since it seems that the wrong chart was being used and with the wrong scale, which made it impossible to properly verify the approach to the coast and shallower waters, the researchers add in their report preliminary
AMP noted.
In addition, the lack of supervision and monitoring of the navigation equipment, the distraction generated when the officer of the watch totally loses the course of the navigation and an “excess of confidence” during the watch, are among the causes that could cause the grounding and sinking Partial of the vessel on a coral reef off Mauritius.
The AMP awaits the result of an interview with the captain, in custody, and the first officer, and has requested access to the VDR (voyage data recorder) and other essential ship navigation documents in the investigation, which are in the custody of the Police of the Republic of Mauritius.
