The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) has finally issued its findings on an incident that took place last year, where two ships nearly collided with each other in Halifax.
On the morning of June 29, 2016, the Murphy’s on the Water tour boat Summer Bay crossed directly in front of the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Grandeur of the Seas.
“It was a crossing situation,” said Transportation Safety Board regional senior investigator Chris Morrow, who authored the report. “If there were a collision — which there wasn’t — the stem, the very bow of the boat, is the strongest part of your vessel. That’s where the best place to collide would be. And it would have been right in the centre of the Summer Bay.”
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Morrow explained that the consequences of a collision would have been “severe” for the smaller boat, with the larger boat suffering little damage.
That morning, the tour boat left the harbor with 35 passengers and four crew, while the cruise ship had about 3,200 on board. There was low visibility due to the thick fog but the two ships could see each other on radar. Each boat agreed to pass each other port to port over marine radio.
However, less than 10 minutes after making that agreement, the master of the Summer Bay believed he saw another ship to starboard on his radar. The master also thought there were shoals on his starboard side.
The TSB report concluded that neither of those things were true, reported CBC. According to the report, the shoal was behind the Summer Bay, and the radar image was just a reflection of the large Grandeur of the Seas. The master of the Summer Bay decided the safest course was to turn and cross in front of the cruise ship.
The Grandeur of the Seas crew did not see the smaller ship that was nearly beneath them.
“The first indication from the Grandeur of the Seas was they saw the mast coming from underneath the bow,” said Morrow.
The tour boat failed to warn the cruise ship of the change in plans. The crew of the cruise ship also saw the tour boat disappear momentarily off radar because it was too close for the instruments to pick up. The crossing took place over 30 seconds.
Morrow has since offered a number of findings that encourage captains to pay closer attention to proper procedures in fog and in verifying radar data.
“The most important part would be a risk mitigation strategy for vessels operating in fog, and for the company to ensure that their masters are fully competent and aware of the risks involved in going out in the fog with large traffic on the way in, and mitigate those risks,” he said in his report.
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