2. Answer the following questions.

1. Who was on the bridge?

2. What happened to the vessel?

3. What were the weather conditions at the time of the accident?

4. Were there any communication problems between thepilot and the master?

5. What was the position of the gantry crane?

6. What was the pilot’s decision?

7. What caused the accident in master’s opinion/ in pilot’s opinion?

8. Was Chief Officer at fault?

9. What was the company’s conclusion?

10. What losses were caused by the accident?

3. Explain the following terms.

1. to have the con_______________________________________________________________

2. excess speed__________________________________________________________________

3. in the given time span___________________________________________________________

4. to lose the power_______________________________________________________________

5. at a steeper angle______________________________________________________________

4. Decide if the following statements are True or False. Correct the wrong ones.

1. The Master had a meeting with the pilot before berthing._________

2. On the bridge there were only the Master and the Pilot.______

3. The engine had stopped working before the accident happened. ____

4. The vessel was approaching the quay on her port side. ____

5. The ice floating was of enhanced thickness._______

6. The visibility was decreasing rapidly._________

7. Two tugs were assisting during mooring operation._____

8. It was sunset there is why the berth was unlit. _______

9. An orange light wasn’t switched off. _______

10. The pilot wanted to berth opposite the gantry crane. _______

11. The pilot decided to approach at a full speed. __________

12. The speed of the vessel was about 3 knots. ________

13. The pilot wasn’t monitoring the speed because he was self-confident. ________

14. The pilot didn’t speak English, but that wasn’t a problem for the Master. ________

5. Find in the text the pilot’s commands to the vessel and the tug.

Commans to the vessel	Commands to the tug

Do you agree with the master that pilot’s commands were wrong?

6. Complete an incident report (see annex) covering the following items.

1. Description of the situation;

2. Direct, root causes of the incident;

3. Remedial actions and recommendations.

Case study - 2. Contact with Berth during Strong Flood Tide

1. Read the text. Analyze the situation yourself. Afterwards compare your opinion with the expert assessment.

The vessel departed from the terminal in the morning. The master, pilot, chief officer and helmsman were on the bridge. A proper pilot brief was not held as there was no specific plan and no discussion about risks regarding the departure. The vessel was facing downstream and departed under pilotage. One tug was available astern but was let go just after departure. However, another vessel was known to be proceeding upriver and approaching the area and it appears that the pilot decided to head further the south side of the river in order to pass the other vessel. By the time the pilot ordered port helm in order to head downriver, the vessel was caught in the flood tide and the bow started to swing to starboard. The standby tug could not assist, as it had been let go just after departure. The vessel increased power ahead but continued swinging to starboard, proceeding directly across the river at a speed of around 7 knots and heading for a vessel berthed at the terminal on the south bank. This high speed made the thrusters useless. At this point the master feared that the risk of collision was imminent, relieved the pilot and ordered full astern in order to reduce the speed and also take advantage of the transverse thrust effect of the right hand propeller to swing the bow further to starboard. At same time the anchor was dropped but it was too late. As a result of these actions the vessel’s bow cleared the berthed vessel by about 30 meters but the vessel made heavy contact with the berth at a speed of about 4 knots. Finding from the accident investigation by the flag state inspectors were: The port state investigation found that the pilot had applied port helm too late to prevent the vessel’s bow from swinging to starboard once it entered the tidal stream. This accident might have been prevented if the pilot had retained the option of using the tug for longer. The master and pilot did not exchange detailed information. Had they discussed areas of the river transit that may have posed a risk, they might have decided to retain the use of the tug until the vessel was clear of the complex tidal flows. The investigation recommends the port authority to include in its procedures a requirement for vessels departing the terminal to retain the use of a tug until they have fully entered the stream, when a strong tidal counter-flow is present off the berth.

WHAT? Contact with Berth during Strong Flood Tide 1 WHY The vessel was south of the planned course line 2WHY There was inbound traffic so the pilot decided to position the vessel closer to shore 3WHY There was no specific plan and no discussion about risks regarding departure between the pilot and bridge team. A proper pilot brief wasn’t held. 4 WHY The bridge team disregarded company’s own departure procedures which required a pilot briefing which should address possible risks. 5 WHY The company wasn’ty avble to explain the importance of following approved procedures, MRM and company’s procedures on how to interact with pilot weren’t thorough enough. Consequences: extensive repairs to own vessel and quay, which also caused further loss of earnings.