Americas News
Authorities Call for Marine Safety Improvements After Fuel Tanker Grounding
A report released Monday by Canada's Transportation Safety Board (TSB) found that fatigue among the crew contributed to an incident in which a fuel tanker ran aground in the country's far north.
According to a TSB press release the incident occurred October 14, 2014 as the fuel tanker Nanny was on a voyage to deliver diesel to Chesterfield Inlet in the province of Nunavut on the western shore of Hudson's Bay.
According to the TSB, the tanker was outbound in darkness in the confined waters of the inlet when the master ordered the helmsman to change course and apply port rudder; the helmsman acknowledged the order by repeating it, but turned to starboard instead.
That report goes on to say that, "within seconds," the master issued a larger port helm order because the vessel was not responding as he expected, then ordered port helm two more times.
The helmsman continued to apply starboard helm until 51 seconds later, and only then applied the correct port order.
As the vessel passed its course alteration point, the master took action to slow the vessel down, but the strong tide and the vessel's speed did not allow enough time to prevent the Nanny from touching bottom at Deer Island.
Fatigue
Investigators determined that the master and helmsman were fatigued at the time of the occurrence, and that ineffective fatigue management aboard the vessel contributed to their being fatigued while on duty.
Neither the master nor the officer of the watch (OOW) noticed the helm direction error, and the OOW had ceased participating in the navigation of the vessel after the master took over, prior to the alteration in course.
The investigation also identified deficiencies in the vessel's navigational procedures and in the application of bridge resource management principles.
Despite having a certified and audited safety management system (SMS), the investigation also found several shortcomings with the SMS implementation on board the Nanny that contributed to the occurrence.
As a result the TSB is calling on Transport Canada (TC) to implement regulations requiring all operators in the marine industry to have formal safety management processes and for TC to oversee these companies' safety management processes.
Following the occurrence, the vessel's operator implemented enhanced fatigue management procedures, crew training on fatigue, and improved procedures for navigating in confined waters.
A media report notes that TSB also said that following the Nanny's 2014 grounding, Det Norske Veritas -Germanischer Lloyd (DNV-GL) conducted a review of the safety management system of Coastal Shipping Limited (the company that operates the vessel).
According to the report, based on those findings, "Coastal Shipping sent a memo to all their vessels informing them of various safety measures including keeping the deck log up-to-date hourly and adhering strictly to rest hour."
