ENOUGH GUILT TO GO AROUND

Posted on 06/17/2016 | About Dublin, Ireland

Last year the Conti Group’s MV Hamburg sailing from Dublin to Hamburg hit rocks near Tobermory on the Isle of Mull. The ship suffered a power outage with 297 passengers and 164 crewmembers on board. The captain Joao Manuel Fernandes Simoes, admitted guilt in court, but the results of an investigation indicate that the crew must also share the blame.

On May 11, 2015 the Hamburg was trying to get into the bay at Tobermory. There were already two ships in the area. As it approached, the port side grazed across charted rocky shoals, and the propeller got struck. The vessel struggled into the bay without use of the port engine.
The crew did an internal investigation and the owners directed the ship to its next port of call in Belfast not knowing the extent of the external damage, which proved to be substantial.
Ship master Simoes, pleaded guilty for the failure of a passage plan in breach of regulations with SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea).
He also pleaded guilty for a delay of the incident report, which is in contrary to the Merchant Shipping vessel traffic monitoring and reporting requirement regulations.
The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) reports, "The investigation found that, having been unable to enter Tobermory Bay on arrival, the passage plan was not re-evaluated or amended.
"Combined with poor bridge team management and navigational practices, this resulted in the vessel running into danger and grounding.
"Despite the loud noise and vibration resulting from the grounding, the bridge team did not initiate the post-grounding checklist, no musters were held and neither the vessel's managers nor any shore authorities were notified of the accident."
The report continued, "Upon arrival at Tobermory Bay, the master made an ill-considered and poorly executed attempt at anchoring just within the bay's entrance instead of the planned position in the south of the bay.
"This had to be aborted to avoid a second grounding when Hamburg dragged its anchor.
"The passenger vessel was then taken back out to the open sea with unknown damage to its structure, before diverting to Belfast where a dive survey revealed the extent of the damage. The vessel was withdrawn from service for three months for repairs."
The MAIB did not make any recommendations as all parties took proper action after the court case.