Page 10 - 2021 - Q4 - Minerva in Focus

SAFETY & SECURITY Case study:

Lone Watchkeeping Grounding at Night

While on passage at night, a 2,281 gt general cargo ship ran aground
on the Pentland Skerries in the eastern entrance of the Pentland Firth,
Scotland (Figure 1). The ship sustained significant hull damage, but
there was no pollution or injuries.

What happened

On the afternoon before the grounding, while on passage, a bridge team
meeting was held to discuss the forthcoming transit of the Pentland Firth, a
stretch of water to the north of the Scottish mainland notorious for extreme
tidal and sea conditions. The master decided to adjust the bridge watch-
keeping schedule in order to make the transit in favourable tidal conditions.
The cadet was directed to keep watch from 23:00 to 02:00 (all times UTC + 2),
and the maritime officer would then commence his watch with the transit of
the Pentland Firth due to begin at about 05:00
Between about 17:30 and 19:00 the maritime officer had dinner and con-
sumed two beers in the mess room. He went to his cabin at about 19:00 and
slept from approximately 21:30 until 01:45.
Figure 1: The maritime officer relieved the cadet as officer of the watch (OOW) at
02:00, with the ship making 7.8kts on a heading of 280° in calm seas. The ship had
Ship hard aground following been on track mode steering, which enables it to follow its planned track automat-
the incident ically. However, the maritime officer deselected this, switched to the standalone
autopilot, and set the heading to 279°. Alone on the bridge, he then sat down in the
Source: MAIB
bridge chair (Figure 2) and started watching music videos on his mobile phone. The
Bridge Watch Navigation Alarm System (BWNAS) was not in use.

Figure 2:
Ship’s bridge
showing the radar
displays, ECDIS, VHF
radio, autopilots,
and bridge chair
Source: MAIB

At about 04:00, the OOW looked at the radar and realised that the ship was south of
the planned track (Figure 3). At the same time, he observed two small islands ahead
on the radar. He decided to proceed between the islands, after which he intended to
alter course to starboard to regain the planned track.
by Jacob Damgaard
Britannia P&I Club

10 MINERVA IN FOCUS – ISSUE 18 / Q4 2021