UK MAIB – Report on Allision

The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) issued the joint report (with the Antigua and Barbuda Department of Marine Services and Merchant Shipping) on the investigation of the allision of the general cargo vessel ORADE with the training wall at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Trent on 1 March 2005. The vessel was outbound and under pilotage at the time. The pilot had asked the master to switch the steering from manual to the riverpilot mode. Several minutes later, as the vessel approached the training wall, the pilot asked the master to return to the manual steering mode, because the vessel was not responding. When steering was returned to manual, the vessel responded to rudder commands, but it was too late to prevent the allision with and grounding on the training wall. Investigation revealed that the master was not familiar with the riverpilot mode of steering and may have not properly engaged the riverpilot, which had the result of inadvertently engaging the autopilot. The pilot failed to check that the riverpilot mode was correctly engaged. The master had been working six hours on duty and six hours off duty for the previous five months and probably suffered from fatigue. There was poor communication between the master and the pilot. Report No. 23/2005