Americas News
LOP After ECA Fuel Switching Operation Caused Houston Channel Collision and Spill: Houston Pilots Association
The Houston Pilots Association has cited a low-sulfur fuel switchover operation for compliance with the North American Emission Control Area (ECA) as the cause of a March 9, 2015 Houston Ship Channel collision and chemical spill, local media reports.
As Ship & Bunker reported in March 2015, the 45,000 DWT tanker Carla Maersk, which had been carrying 216,000 barrels of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) at the time of the incident, was on its way out of the channel when it hit the 57,000 DWT bulker MV Conti Peridot.
The Houston Pilots Association says that the fuel switch operation led to a loss of power on the Conti Peridot seconds before the accident occurred, an assertion that comes in the face of a recent preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) that found pilot decision-making as the accident's "probable cause."
Specifically, NTSB has said that an "inability" to control the ship and a "lack of communication with other vessels" likely caused the collision.
However, the Houston Pilots Association notes that the collision and resulting spill came just six days after a safety alert was issued by the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) warning that operations to switch to ECA-compliant ultra low-sulfur fuel oil had been linked to other incidents of loss of propulsion (LOP).
The Houston Pilots Association are also reported to be in the process of defending themselves from extensive litigation filed stemming from the collision, with more than 3,000 individuals claiming to have sustained damaged property or health as a result of the 88,000 gallon MTBE spill.
The collision is said to have resulted in an 8-foot wave that carried water contaminated with MTBE onto the lawns of homes along the coast, released fumes into the air of the nearby port terminals, and caused the channel to be kept closed for three days.
In November 2015, Ship & Bunker reported that the USCG had issued an updated safety alert to vessel operators to address concerns arising from the use of ultra low sulfur fuel oil.
