The Challenges for Watchkeepers Continue
This week MarineLink reported on the NTSB’s analysis of a 2024 collision on the lower Mississippi that resulted from a tow pilot’s distraction caused by personal cellphone use.While navigating the tow for about 1.5 hours before the collision, the pilot engaged in non-operational, secondary tasks, including taking an administrative phone call from the company’s safety officer, making a personal phone call and sending text messages.The pilot had only had about four hours of continuous sleep in the 36 hours before the collision…
Tow Collision: Fatigued Pilot Distracted by Phone
A tow pilot’s distraction caused by personal cellphone use resulted in a collision last year with moored barges on the lower Mississippi River, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.The towing vessel William B Klunk was pushing 22 loaded hopper barges on April 17, 2024, when the tow collided with moored barges at a fleeting area near Baton Rouge. Thirteen barges broke away from the William B Klunk tow and three barges broke away from the fleeting area, resulting in damage to the barges, a fleet crew boat and two mooring dolphins.
IMO Targets Seafarer Fatigue
The IMO is taking action to ensure that ships worldwide are safely managed and operated, with a renewed focus on seafarer issues such as work and rest hours, fatigue and violence and harassment, including sexual harassment, bullying and sexual assault.Meeting in London for its 110th session (18 - 27 June), the IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee focused on improving implementation of the International Safety Management (ISM) Code. The Code sets the global standard for safe management…
Master of Grounded Passenger Vessel was Asleep at Helm
New Zealand’s Transport Accident Investigation Commission has released its report into the grounding of the passenger vessel Fiordland Navigator – attributing the accident to the fatigued master who fell asleep at the helm.The accident occurred on January 24, 2024. The Fiordland Navigator ran aground while making a turn in Doubtful Sound. There were nine crew and 57 passengers on board, and several people received minor injuries. The vessel was moderately damaged.The crew responded well to the emergency, safely evacuating passengers to Deep Cove, then to Te Anau that evening, says TAIC.
Maritime Fatigue: Just another band aid?
On 24 January, the IMO issued updated guidelines on fatigue. This is just another in a long series of band aids that attempt to cover over the problem without providing a solution. Fatigue is a long-standing weakness in the maritime industry. It is recognized as a major or contributing causal factor in the majority of maritime casualties. As is well-known, fatigue is caused by a lack of sleep and relaxation. These, in turn, are the result of too few people being tasked with too much work. Guidance on how to recognize and manage fatigue is meaningless.
