STEP CHANGE FOR SAFETY GLOBAL SHARING DEC 2013 - SAFE NAVIGATION | Page 7

GLOBAL SHARING MONTHLY NEWSLETTER – DEC. 2013 - NAVIGATION
KEY MESSAGE: THOROUGH PASSAGE PLANNING, RESOURCE ALLOCATION, GOOD
COMMUNICATION & SITUATION AWARENESS ARE CRITICAL FOR SAFE NAVIGATION.
WHAT HAPPENED:

A Unicom managed vessel received voyage orders for loading in Japan proceeding to Mackay Australia for
further orders.
The initially planned voyage was via Hydrographer’s Passage through the Great Barrier Reef to Mackay
Queensland, which is the most direct route. Missing nautical charts required for this voyage were requested
and received locally in Japan.
The vessel sailed from Japan. A week before arrival to the pilot boarding area of the Hydrographer’s
Passage.
The Agent advised the Master that, although pilotage is available through the Hydrographer’s Passage, pilot
boarding is via helicopter and that helicopters do not have winching capability and must land on board. The
ship has no helicopter landing facilities and the passage was therefore revised to the north of the Great
Barrier Reef and transiting to Mackay via Palm Passage. Information regarding pilot boarding was also
available in the ALRS Vol. 6Due to the unavailability of the charts on board for this route; the ship requested
scanned copies of charts from the chart supplier for the passage via Palm Passage to Mackay. Upon vessel’s
berthing an AMSA PSC inspector boarded the vessel for inspection.
The PSC inspection resulted in the detention of the vessel due to a deficiency - “The SMS has not ensured
the vessel is supplied with appropriate official navigation charts for its navigation as evidenced by deficiency
#1”.
WHY IT HAPPENED:

Poor Passage Planning: Master and Nav. Officer failed to timely identify critical information related to pilot
boarding arrangements.-The use of a scanned chart was possible in exceptional cases as per SMS
procedure, which is however not in full compliance with the regulations. As an immediate corrective action an
external ISM audit by the Flag Authority was carried out.SMS procedure amended accordingly and HSSE
bulletin distributed fleet wide
LESSONS LEARNED:

Prior to each voyage the master of every ship shall ensure that the intended route from the port of departure
to the first