Disasters at Sea

Dag Pike

• Publisher: Adlard Coles
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9780713688788
• eBook ISBN: 9781472908346
• Edition: 1

Dag Pike draws on his experience as merchant navy captain, fast boat
navigator and boat safety tester for RNLI lifeboats to focus on a wide
range of disasters at sea. He compiles a wide range of accounts of
yachts, motorboats and commercial vessels running into difficulty as a
result of poor navigation, fog, miscalculation, human error, weather
conditions etc and analyses in a readable and entertaining fashion what
caused the disaster, what went wrong, how it was dealt with and the
lessons learned from it. Examples
range from the Fastnet disaster, powerboat races, boats run down in the
Channel, to trawlers pulled under by submarines, ferry accidents and
tanker and cargo ship disasters. The incidents include grounding,
collision, fire, sinking, ice and storms, and each chapter has an
example from the Marine Accident Investigation Bureau who monitor
incidents at sea. This book is a fascinating read for all who go afloat either for
business or pleasure, and for anyone interested in just why disasters
happen at sea.

Collision

I encountered my first collision at sea when I was just 16 years old. I had joined my first ship, a 6,000-tonne tramp ship, in London Docks, and after we sailed down the Thames we emerged into the English Channel. It was winter and even before we had dropped the pilot off at Dover we were in thick fog with the whistle blowing. This was a whole new experience for me, still wet behind the ears after leaving school just a couple of weeks before joining the ship.

This was back in 1950 when only a handful of ships were fitted with radar, and well before there was a traffic separation system in the Channel to provide one-way traffic lanes. So we chose the optimum course, heading for the turning point off Ushant. We were heading down Channel at a moderate speed when suddenly a ship appeared out of the fog right ahead. Fortunately it was an end-on meeting so there was a much-reduced chance of serious damage, but we certainly collided with a bang that reverberated throughout the boat. You could feel the ship heeling over but it was more of a glancing blow, bow to bow, that damaged the railings and bent a few plates, but nothing serious. It just made our hearts beat a bit faster.

Of course we all rushed out on deck to see what was happening and there was the other ship, similar in size, passing just a few feet away. We could almost reach out and shake hands with the crew. Then it disappeared into the fog just as quickly as it had arrived. A quick check showed no serious damage, but it was a salutary lesson and was my introduction to the possibility of disaster at sea.

I joined the Marjata straight from school and the ship was in a collision just one day out from port on my first voyage.

Radar-assisted collision

Probably the most famous collision at sea was when the Titanic hit an iceberg back in 1912. Icebergs are the ultimate floating debris and will weigh more than the ship, so the ship always comes off worse. These days icebergs are carefully tracked as they drift south in the North Atlantic, and they also show up on radar, so ships are pretty safe, although the recent case of the cruise ship Explorer hitting ice in the Antarctic shows that the risk is still there. The risks are much higher for small craft operating among icebergs. A ship may shrug off a collision with the small ice, the bergy bits and growlers that come away from the main ’berg, but they are death to a small craft.

Another famous collision in the North Atlantic was that between the Andrea Doria and the Stockholm. These were both Atlantic liners and they were on opposing courses around the Nantucket Lightship. Both had radar, although back in 1956 when the collision occurred this was still a relatively new navigation tool. This collision has been hailed as the first ‘radar-assisted collision’, a term that was to be used in many more collisions, referring to the misuse of the information gained from the radar display. The fog was patchy and even though the two ships were in clear sight of each other when still a mile apart, the Stockholm tore into the side of the Andrea Doria, which capsized and sank. Forty-six people from the Andrea Doria and five from the Stockholm lost their lives. As the case was settled out of court, the blame for the collision was never officially proportioned, but both ships contributed to the situation. This collision led to a close examination of the use of radar in collision avoidance, and the results set the pattern for future years.

These two ships should have been miles apart when they passed, but it shows how one ship, in trying to anticipate the movements of another, can compound a situation. As they had seen each other at a mile apart it should have been possible to avoid collision. But when ships travel at over 20 knots they close at the rate of nearly one mile every minute, and these are big ships that need time to change course and speed. It is interesting to see that in this collision, and in many more that have been analysed, at least one of the ships makes a turn almost at the last minute. The collision occurs when this turn is in the wrong direction, right across the bows of the other ship, suggesting that the other ship’s course has been misinterpreted.

The collision between the cruise liner Norwegian Dream and the container ship Ever Decent stunned the marine world. It was a collision that should never have happened.

Shock and noise

That last minute before the collision must have seemed like an eternity to the watch-keepers on those two liners, but the die was already cast. Most collisions are quick and sudden. You never plan to hit anything, and while you might see another boat or ship just before you hit it, the first reaction to any collision is a great sense of shock. You cannot believe what has happened. You become rooted to the spot, not knowing what to do or how to cope, and the noise is incredible. The shock of a collision can last for several minutes, and those can be vital minutes if you want to save yourself and the boat.

A tanker shortly after being in collision with another ship. Here the damage was to the bow, which minimised the risk of oil pollution, one of the main concerns when ships are in collision.

A collision, whether it is with another ship or with floating debris of some sort, is likely to throw you across the boat. It is this and the dreadful noise that alerts you to impending disaster. A collision in fog is probably worse because you do not see anything until the last moment. A recent collision in Boston Harbour between two ferries must have been terrifying for both passengers and crew. Although the ferries were damaged, no one on board was hurt, but the shock must have taken some time to wear off.

With small boats it is the suddenness of the collision that creates the shock. With ships it is different because their collisions seem to happen in slow motion. The ships involved are probably doomed when they are still half a mile or so apart. Either visually, or with radar, the crew can see what will happen. The next few minutes, when it is too late to take avoiding action, will be the longest of their lives. This interval occurs because large ships are not very manoeuvrable and must think in advance. Put the helm over in one of these ships and there is a considerable delay before anything starts to happen, and even when it does the turning is painfully slow. Try and make a crash stop, and the ship will travel a mile or two before it slows down appreciably.

Compare this with an immediately responsive boat where a crash stop can be a matter of seconds rather than minutes. Even if another craft looms out of the fog at close range, there should still be a good chance of avoiding it. It is this good manoeuvrability that accounts for the rarity of collisions between small craft. The statistics on collisions with fast ferries show over 1,000 reported incidents, with a considerable proportion of those occurring between two fast ferries. It makes you wonder what these so-called professional operators are doing, but it also highlights the increasing risk of high-speed operations. The statistics could be explained by the fact that ferry and ship collisions are always reported, whereas boat collisions may well be settled with a quick exchange of insurance details.

Two fast ferries collided off Macau harbour in 2006, but fortunately without any loss of life or injury. The 28m monohull Dong Qu Yi was left sinking with only the bow above water, while the 48m New World LXXXV was only slightly damaged. Fast ferry operations require a high-calibre watchkeeper, because things happen very quickly at high speed. Although two miles from another ship, at 40 knots you’ll reach it in under a minute and a half, which does not allow a lot of time for altering course or speed. Factor in the added complications of poor visibility and having to keep to a tight operating schedule, and you have a potential for disaster that will be exacerbated by the high speeds involved. I am convinced that many ferry collisions occur in poor visibility, when the ferries are trying to keep to a schedule and are reluctant to slow down.

Contact with whales

Another collision danger for fast ferries is making contact with whales. There has been an increasing number of these in recent years, perhaps raised by an increase in reporting, but also by the rapid increase in fast ferry operations. We were not far out of New York on Virgin Atlantic Challenger, making our record crossing, when a whale surfaced close ahead. When you sight a whale like this there is no indication of the direction in which it is heading, but thankfully it passed safely down the side of the boat. It was close enough to smell and when you can smell a whale you know you are too close. Contact would have done neither of us any good as we were travelling at 50 knots.

Harbours

There is always the risk of injury in a collision and there does seem to be a growing number of collisions between small boats where injury or death results. You can’t laugh these off, and they seem to be prevalent at night in harbours. I have little doubt in my mind that yacht tenders and similar craft running at night without lights are a major worry, and given the time of day, alcohol will often be a contributory factor. Even if the small boats have lights it is not always easy to see them against shore lights. I came across an unlit boat one evening when returning across a harbour, and at first there did not appear to be anyone on board. Closer inspection revealed a white backside going up and down in the bottom of the boat. The boat was drifting up the harbour in the dark, while the couple were otherwise engaged.

Caring for survivors after a collision involving powerboats.

Speed is another factor in harbour collisions. I know of one case where a RIB running at around 20 knots ran into a ferry at night. The ferry was big enough, but unless you are aware and alert, it is not always easy to see something moving slowly against the shore lights. The ferry shrugged off the incident, and the RIB came off worse. With its sudden stop against the hull of the ferry, the crew were catapulted overboard against the side of the ferry and seriously injured. In another case, one boat ran right over the top of another in a British harbour, resulting in the death of one crewmember. This is the sort of collision that may lead to changes in the regulations by which we operate boats in harbours. I am not convinced that regulations will improve the situation, but it is really the only weapon that the authorities have when trying to enforce moderation in boat driving.

Compared with the USA, there are relatively few collision incidents in European waters involving fast boats. In one accident in Florida, a 45ft Sonic high-performance sports boat sliced through a cabin cruiser on the Intracoastal Canal in the dark, killing all six people on the cruiser. Wreckage was reported as being spread for nearly half a mile over the water and a man and woman on board the Sonic were thrown out, while the boat continued at speed before hitting a dock on the waterway. These two were rescued but taken to hospital in critical condition. The Sonic was reported as being capable of 80mph, but it was not known how fast it was going at the time of the collision. There was a 25mph limit in force on that stretch of the waterway, but the disintegration of the cabin cruiser suggests the Sonic was travelling at considerable speed. Alcohol is suspected of being a contributory cause in this accident. The Sonic driver was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 85 years in prison. Finding proof in this sort of case can be difficult, but here there seemed to be little doubt.

Recording collisions

If you trawl the Internet for boating accidents, America comes up time and time again. America probably has the most crowded waters in the world as far as leisure boating is concerned, with over 17 million registered boats, so you could argue that collisions are almost inevitable. The statistics show that collisions are at the top of the table as far as accident causes are concerned with over 2,500 per year, and that is just collisions with other vessels. If you add in collisions with objects then this increases by another 1,000. It is not hard to see why there are so many marine lawyers in the US.

Good clear navigation lights are essential to prevent collisions at night, but the flag on this motor yacht is covering the stern light.

One embarrassing collision occurred when a Florida Fish and Wildlife patrol boat collided with a manatee. Manatees are a protected species, and the patrol boat was out there to monitor the speed of other boaters to limit collisions with these gentle animals. The officer on board said that he was accelerating after leaving a manatee zone when the collision occurred. The wildlife people said they got some useful information from the collision that could be used for more effective regulations and possible new vessel designs for the future.

Any boat that comes to a stop very quickly is going to cause injury to the people on board. I do a lot of expert witness work investigating accidents involving boats an...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Capsize
• Fire
• Grounding
• Ice
• Harbours
• Rescues
• Storms
• Survival
• Collision
• The Future
• Acknowledgements
• eCopyright