T R O P E R T N E D I C C A Report on the investigation of the collision Ever Smart between the container ship Alexandra 1 and the oil tanker Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates 11 February 2015 H C N A R B N O I T A G I T S E V N I T N E D I C C A E N I R A SERIOUS MARINE CASUALTY REPORT NO 28/2015 DECEMBER 2015 M Extract from The United Kingdom Merchant Shipping (Accident Reporting and Investigation) Regulations 2012 – Regulation 5: “The sole objective of the investigation of an accident under the Merchant Shipping (Accident Reporting and Investigation) Regulations 2012 shall be the prevention of future accidents through the ascertainment of its causes and circumstances. It shall not be the purpose of an investigation to determine liability nor, except so far as is necessary to achieve its objective, to apportion blame.” NOTE This report is not written with litigation in mind and, pursuant to Regulation 14(14) of the Merchant Shipping (Accident Reporting and Investigation) Regulations 2012, shall be inadmissible in any judicial proceedings whose purpose, or one of whose purposes is to attribute or apportion liability or blame. © Crown copyright, 2015 You may re-use this document/publication (not including departmental or agency logos) free of charge in any format or medium. You must re-use it accurately and not in a misleading context. The material must be acknowledged as Crown copyright and you must give the title of the source publication. Where we have identified any third party copyright material you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned. All MAIB publications can be found on our website: www.gov.uk/maib For all enquiries: Marine Accident Investigation Branch Spring Place 105 Commercial Road Southampton Email: [email protected] United Kingdom Telephone: +44 (0) 23 8039 5500 SO15 1GH Fax: +44 (0) 23 8023 2459 Press enquiries during office hours: 020 7944 4312 / 3176 Press enquiries out of hours: 020 7944 4292 CONTENTS GLOSSARY OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS SYNOPSIS 1 SECTION 1 – FACTUAL INFORMATION 2 1.1 Particulars of Ever Smart, Alexandra 1 and accident 2 1.2 Narrative 6 1.2.1 Events leading up to the collision 6 1.2.2 The collision 11 1.2.3 Post-collision actions 19 1.3 Damage 19 1.3.1 Alexandra 1 19 1.3.2 Ever Smart 19 1.4 Ever Smart 21 1.4.1 Management and operation 21 1.4.2 The master 21 1.4.3 Bridge equipment and visibility 22 1.4.4 Manoeuvrability 22 1.5 Alexandra 1 22 1.5.1 Management and operation 22 1.5.2 The master 23 1.5.3 Bridge equipment 23 1.5.4 Manoeuvrability 23 1.6 Jebel Ali port 23 1.6.1 Operation 23 1.6.2 Navigation 23 1.6.3 Port control 24 1.6.4 Pilotage 25 1.6.5 Operations manual 25 1.6.6 VHF Communication 26 1.6.7 Previous accident 27 1.7 Vessel Traffic Services 28 1.8 Automatic Identification System 29 1.8.1 Carriage 29 1.8.2 Guidance 29 SECTION 2 – ANALYSIS 30 2.1 Aim 30 2.2 The collision 30 2.3 Vessel perspectives 30 2.3.1 Alexandra 1 30 2.3.2 Ever Smart 31 2.4 VHF communications watch 31 2.5 Lookout and monitoring 32 2.6 Action to avoid the collision 32 2.6.1 The use of VHF radio 32 2.6.2 The use of sound signals 33 2.7 The role of the VTSO 33 2.7.1 The plan 33 2.7.2 Monitoring 33 2.7.3 Response 34 2.8 The role of the pilot 34 2.8.1 Assessment 34 2.8.2 Co-ordination and communication 35 2.8.3 Disembarkation 35 2.9 Vessel traffic services 35 2.10 The use of AIS 36 SECTION 3 – CONCLUSIONS 37 3.1 Safety issues directly contributing to the accident that have been addressed or resulted in recommendations 37 3.2 Safety issues not directly contributing to the accident that have been addressed or resulted in recommendations 38 3.3 Other safety issues not directly contributing to the accident 38 SECTION 4 – ACTION TAKEN 39 4.1 Actions taken by other organisations 39 4.1.1 The Republic of the Marshall Islands has: 39 4.1.2 Evergreen Marine (UK) Limited has: 39 4.1.3 Iships Management Private Limited has: 39 SECTION 5 – RECOMMENDATIONS 40 FIGURES Figure 1 - BA chart 3739 showing Jebel Ali port limits and short term anchorage Figure 2 - VTS radar showing Ever Smart’s position at 2309 Figure 3 - VTS radar showing Zakheer Bravo and Alexandra 1 at 2329 Figure 4 - Ever Smart – port radar display at 2331 Figure 5 - Ever Smart – bridge Figure 6 - Ever Smart – port radar display at 2334 Figure 7 - Plot showing the vessels’ positions at 2337 Figure 8 - Plot showing the vessels’ positions at 2340 Figure 9 - Ever Smart – port radar display 2342:07 Figure 10 - Plot showing the collision at 2342 Figure 11 - Ever Smart and Alexandra 1 shortly after the collision Figure 12 - Alexandra 1’s damaged bow Figure 13 - Ever Smart’s damaged bow Figure 14 - Kashmir on fire in the Jebel Ali approach channel TABLES Table 1 - VHF radio exchange between Jebel Ali port control and Alexandra 1 at 2200 Table 2 - VHF radio exchange between Jebel Ali port control and the pilot at 2253 Table 3 - VHF radio exchange between Jebel Ali port control and Alexandra 1 at 2256 Table 4 - Conversation between the pilot and Ever Smart’s master at 2331 Table 5 - VHF radio exchange between Alexandra 1 and Jebel Ali port control at 2341 Table 6 - VHF radio exchange between Jebel Ali port control, Ever Smart, the pilot and Alexandra 1 at 2341 (continued) ANNEXES Annex A - The Republic of the Marshall Islands Marine Safety Advisory No 10-15 ‘Lessons Learned: Safe Navigation in the Vicinity of Designated Pilot Embarkation/Disembarkation Areas’ GLOSSARY OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS AB - Able Seaman AIS - Automatic Identification System ARPA - Automatic Radar Plotting Aid BTM - Bridge Team Management CEC - Certificate of Equivalent Competency CoC - Certificate of Competency COLREGS - International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea 1972 (as amended) ECDIS - Electronic Chart Display and Information System EMU - Evergreen Marine (UK) Limited IALA - International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities IMO - International Maritime Organization INS - Information Service kt - knot kW - kilowatt m - metre NAS - Navigational Assistance Service nm - nautical mile rpm - revolutions per minute SOG - Speed Over the Ground SOLAS - International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea 1974, as amended STCW - International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers 1978, as amended (STCW Convention) t - tonne TOS - Traffic Organisation Service UAE - United Arab Emirates UK - United Kingdom UTC - Universal Co-ordinated Time VDR - Voyage Data Recorder VHF - Very High Frequency VTS - Vessel Traffic Services VTSO - Vessel Traffic Service Officer TIMES: all times used in this report are UTC+4 unless otherwise stated SYNOPSIS On 11 February 2015, the United Kingdom registered container ship Ever Smart collided with the Marshall Islands registered oil tanker Alexandra 1 near the entrance to the buoyed approach channel in Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates. The container ship was outbound at a speed of 12 knots and had disembarked its pilot. The tanker was inbound and was moving very slowly ahead while waiting for the pilot from the container ship to board. Both vessels suffered major structural damage to their bows but there were no injuries or pollution. The collision resulted from several factors. In particular, a passing arrangement was not agreed or promulgated and the actions of both masters were based on assumptions. Alexandra 1 was unnecessarily close to the channel entrance and the tanker’s master acted on scanty VHF radio information. In addition, Ever Smart’s bridge team did not keep a proper lookout or monitor the tanker’s movement. They only realised that Alexandra 1 was close ahead seconds before the collision when alerted by the port control. The accident occurred within Jebel Ali’s port limits. The precautions of pilotage and the port’s vessel traffic service, which would normally co-ordinate and de-conflict the movements of vessels in the port area, were ineffective on this occasion. Evergreen Marine (UK) Limited, the managers of Ever Smart and Iships Management Private Limited, the managers of Alexandra 1 have taken action to improve the standard of bridge watchkeeping on board their vessels. A recommendation to DP World UAE Region, the operators of Jebel Ali port, is intended to improve the effectiveness of the vessel traffic and pilotage services it provides. 1 SECTION 1 – FACTUAL INFORMATION 1.1 PARTICULARS OF EVER SMART, ALEXANDRA 1 AND ACCIDENT SHIP PARTICULARS Vessel’s name Ever Smart Alexandra 1 Flag United Kingdom Marshall Islands Classification society Lloyd’s Register Det Norske Veritas IMO number 9300403 9127148 Type Container ship Crude oil tanker Registered owner Evergreen Marine (UK) Nautical Challenge Limited Limited Manager Evergreen Marine (UK) Iships Management Private Limited Limited Construction Steel Steel Year of build 2005 1997 Length overall 299.99m 269.19m Gross tonnage 75246 79779 Minimum safe manning 16 20 Authorised cargo Containers Oil in bulk VOYAGE PARTICULARS Port of departure Jebel Ali, United Arab Umm Al Qasr, Iraq Emirates Port of arrival Dammam, Saudi Arabia Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates Type of voyage International International Cargo information 48564t in containers 113973.5t condensate Draft 12.7m 14.0m Manning 21 28 2