STEP CHANGE FOR SAFETY GLOBAL SHARING DEC 2013 - SAFE NAVIGATION | Page 9
GLOBAL SHARING MONTHLY NEWSLETTER – DEC. 2013 - NAVIGATION
KEY MESSAGE: REMAIN VIGILANT, EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED & TAKE EARLY ACTIONS.
WHAT HAPPENED:
A vessel was under pilotage, when the master had to carry out an intervention with the pilot.
The vessel was approaching the berth, at 32m from the berth with 2 mooring lines already sent ashore.
The master asked the pilot to pull the vessel to at least 40 meters from the berth to avoid one of the mooring
lines from getting caught beneath the forward fender. The pilot said ok but no immediate action was taken.
The vessel continued approach to the berth and at 25m to the berth, the master asked the pilot again to pull
the vessel away from the berth to at least 40 m to avoid the mooring line landing beneath the forward fender.
Again the pilot said ok but took no visible action.
The forward tug line was still slack; it was obvious that tugs were not pulling. The vessel started to move
forward at a speed of 0.3 knots, increasing the possibility for the mooring line to get stuck underneath the
fender.
At that point the master intervened again and told the Pilot that he was officially asking him to start pulling the
vessel away from the jetty, the master ordered the engines half astern to arrest the vessel's forward
movement.
At 18m from the jetty, the tugs started pulling the vessel slowly in a controlled manner from the jetty and the
mooring line subsequently cleared underneath the fender.
WHY IT HAPPENED:
We have had a few cases this year where intervention whilst under pilotage has been required for safe
passage or safe berthing. This is a positive report which is encouraging to see that intervention is being
carried out, and shipboard teams are daring to make a difference to ensure the safety of our vessels.
LESSONS LEARNED:
1) Always have the confidence to intervene and do the right thing. We understand that it isn’t always easy to
intervene with a pilot, or of someone with a higher rank, however we all have a duty to carry out that intervention
should it be required.
2) Casting off the line and resending it might be an option to consider rather than moving ships away from berth. This
again