STEP CHANGE FOR SAFETY GLOBAL SHARING DEC 2013 - SAFE NAVIGATION | Page 8

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 fully loaded VLCC-A, departed the NO.3 SPM of Basra port, Iraq, at 0436lt on Oct 17th, 2013 .
At 0510lt, the vessel passed No.14 buoy with course of 158 degrees and speed of 3.1 knots, the pilot
exchanged information with the master and left the vessel. At 0710lt, the vessel passed NO.8 buoy with
course of 160 degrees and speed of 6.9 knots, more than fifty fishing vessels were found 2.9 n miles ahead
in the planned passage, the channel was fully occupied,
To avoid the fishing vessels, the master altered course to port and decided to sail into Anchorage A near the
planned passage. At 0718lt, the master put the main engine to slow ahead and then dead slow ahead, there
were two anchored vessels in Anchorage A and it's not easy to drop anchor there, since the VLCC-A was fully
loaded, the master altered the course to port even more to clear the anchored vessels, ship's position was
checked more frequently than planned.
At 0740lt, ship's position was found outside of the Anchorage A and very close to the 20m depth contour
surrounding a shallow water area, the current was pushing the vessel closer to shallow water area, the vessel
was in an immediate danger of grounding, the master put the main engine to half ahead, altered course to
starboard immediately, the tide height was 2.24 meters, water depth was monitored all the time and minimum
UKC was 3.3 meters.
At 0748lt, ship's position was away from the 20m depth contour and returning to planned passage.
WHY IT HAPPENED:

1 Too many fishing vessels occupied the channel…………………………………………………………….
2 The master took the risk to sail the vessel outside of the planned passage in a narrow channel.
3 The master didn't stop the vessel or even drop anchor in time to allow sufficient time to take effective
avoidance action………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
4 The master was not familiar with the traffic condition of the channel, and was not aware that many small
vessels may fish on the planned passage, the pilot left the vessel too early…………………………….
5 The master didn't realize the influence of the current may be much more significant than expected while a
vessel sails with slow speed
LESSONS LEARNED:

1) Master’s judgement is critical as leaving the Safe Navigation Channel on a VLCC (constrained by her draft) to
accommodate fishing vessels might not be the best solution. Use of light, sound signals could be considered.
2) The influence of current might be significant while a vessel sails at slow speed.
3) When visiting a port for the first time, self-piloting of the master is not recommended and the permission of
self-piloting must be sought from the marine superintendent. This is not allowed anymore for Basrah.
4) The company embraces a no-blame safety culture, the master should report any near miss to the company
without hesitation
REMARKS:

ST

31

DEC 2013

A Shell Marine Contractors Safety Initiative