Bulk carrier & commercial fishing boat collided in good visibility night conditions. No substantial damage, no serious injuries or fatalities. Those operating each vessel, aware of the other, acted too late. Neither made best use of radar. Bulk carrier bridge team distracted by passengers. Fishing boat watchkeeper should have known more about collision-prevention rules.
Executive summary
What happened
On the evening of 12 January 2020 the visibility in Whakaraupō/Lyttelton Harbour was good, there was a light south-westerly wind of just under 10 knots and the tidal stream was negligible. The sun had set at 2112 hours. The bulk carrier Rose Harmony was outbound from Lyttelton. It had just disembarked a pilot and was coming up to speed for its intended passage to Dunedin. The Rose Harmony was carrying passengers from the vessel’s charterer; they were on the bridge at the time of the accident.
The fishing vessel Leila Jo was heading to its home port of Lyttelton after fishing in Pegasus Bay. The skipper was resting at the time of the accident and a deckhand was keeping the navigational watch.
The vessels were in a head-on situation, which required both to alter course to starboard to avoid a collision. The third officer on the Rose Harmony observed the Leila Jo when it was more than three nautical miles (5.6 kilometres) away. The deckhand on the Leila Jo had sighted a vessel leaving Lyttelton on the vessel’s radar but had not tracked the target or observed it with binoculars.
Neither vessel took early and substantial action to avoid a collision, and at 2259 they collided.
Neither vessel was substantially damaged. One person on the Leila Jo received minor injuries.
Why it happened
The bridge team on board the Rose Harmony, both during and immediately after the pilotage ended, had a low situational awareness of other marine traffic in the vicinity.
Distraction due to passengers being on the Rose Harmony bridge, the crew not making best use of radar equipment, and the absence of long-range scanning to obtain early warning of the risk of collision, were significant factors.
The sole watchkeeper on board the Leila Jo had low situational awareness as to the risk of collision with the Rose Harmony because the radar equipment was not used to plot the track of the Rose Harmony.
The watchkeeper on board the Leila Jo was not sufficiently familiar with the collision-prevention rules to undertake a sole watch.
What we can learn
The collision-prevention rules provide the mandated standard to be followed by all vessels at sea to prevent collisions of two or more vessels. The risk of collisions will inevitably be high if the rules are not adhered to by one or more vessels.
Navigating in pilotage waters is a safety-critical phase of a voyage. It is important that all unnecessary distractions are mitigated during these times, particularly the presence of people on the bridge who are not essential to its operation.
If collisions between vessels are to be avoided, anyone undertaking a sole bridge watch must be sufficiently trained in the collision-prevention rules and be fully familiar with the bridge equipment at their disposal. The collision-prevention rule 7, Risk of Collision states:
Every vessel must use all available means appropriate to the prevailing circumstances and conditions to determine if the risk of collision exists. If there is any doubt, such risk must be considered to exist.
Who may benefit
Vessel owners and operators, owners and operators of fishing vessels, and watchkeepers on board any type of vessel may all benefit from the information in this report.
Related Recommendations
On 27 May 2021 the Commission recommended that Pegasus Fishing enhance its training system so as to upskill deckhands in watchkeeping practices that meet the minimum requirements of Maritime Rules Part 31 and adequately reduce the risk of accidents and incidents resulting from poor watchkeeping practices.
On 27 May 2021 the Commission recommended that Maritime New Zealand, when assessing or auditing operator safety systems for fishing vessels, review the adequacy of watchkeeping training programmes for upskilling unqualified deckhands to a level that meets good industry practice and complies with the requirements of Maritime Rules Part 31.