Mini Suez canal crisis when 260ft cargo ship got wedged in British river may have been caused by lapse in concentration by trainee pilot, report says
A miniature Suez Canal crisis that occurred on a British river may have been the result of a lapse of concentration by the trainee pilot, an official report has concluded.
A miniature Suez Canal crisis that occurred on a British river may have been the result of a lapse of concentration by the trainee pilot, an official report has concluded.
Baltic Arrow, a 260ft cargo vessel, was heading up the River Nene in Cambridgeshire in June when she ran aground.
Her bow and stern ended up on opposite banks, echoing the 2021 Ever Given accident, when the 1,300ft container ship drifted across the entire width of the Suez Canal in Egypt, blocking the vital shipping route for six days.
A report by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) said Baltic Arrow, which was carrying a consignment of timber from Riga in Latvia to the port of Wisbech, was under the control of two local pilots - Pilot A, who was under assessment by a senior colleague, referred to as Pilot B.
It stated: Pilot A had been helming the vessel for nearly two hours at the time of the accident.
It is therefore possible that the requirement to sustain a high level of attention to complete the pilotage safely within the confined channel resulted in a lapse of concentration.
Baltic Arrow (pictured) was heading up the River Nene in Cambridgeshire in June when she ran aground
The 260ft cargo vessels bow and stern ended up on opposite banks
Initial attempts to free the 22-year-old vessel failed and Baltic Arrow was eventually refloated with the assistance of two tugs during evening flood tide at 9.50pm – more than 13 hours later
The incident on June 25 probably started as a result of some bank effect – a phenomenon where a ships stern swings towards the bank of a river or other narrow waterway due to the asymmetrical flow of water around the vessel which can cause pressure variations and other effects.
Pilot A applied a 30-degree starboard turn at the helm and kicked the main engine to try to correct the course of the vessel, which was sailing under the flag of St Kitts and Nevis and had six crew on board.
Baltic Arrows bow quickly swung to starboard, the report continued. At 0848, before the bridge team could take effective avoiding action, the vessels bows grounded on the western bank of the river at a speed over the ground of six knots.
Baltic Arrows stern was then pushed onto the eastern bank by the flood tide, wedging the vessel across the river.
The master and Pilot B had remained on the bridge but aside from monitoring the passage, did not have specific roles within the bridge team.
The bridge team were communicating ineffectively and lacked a shared mental model of the task being undertaken. This meant that no one recognised the developing situation in sufficient time to prevent the grounding, the MAIB said.
Initial attempts to free the 22-year-old vessel failed and Baltic Arrow was eventually refloated with the assistance of two tugs during evening flood tide at 9.50pm – more than 13 hours later.
The incident on June 25 probably started as a result of some bank effect – a phenomenon where a ships stern swings towards the bank of a river or other narrow waterway due to the asymmetrical flow of water
No one was injured and the ship was undamaged in the incident, which happened when there were calm waters with good visibility
The incident on the River Nene echoed he 2021 Ever Given accident, when the 1,300ft container ship drifted across the entire width of the Suez Canal in Egypt, blocking the vital shipping route for six days
No one was injured and the ship was undamaged in the incident, which happened when there were calm waters with good visibility.
The MAIB revealed a similar incident took place on the Nene in February last year when the Baltic Arrows sister ship, Baltic Express, became grounded. It said insufficient action had been taken to prevent a reoccurrence.
The Wisbech Harbour Authority has now started simulator training for its pilots, begun a review of vessel suitability on the river, and undertaken a risk assessment including the benefits of requiring a tug escort.
Ship owner Galleywood Shipping (Baltic Arrow) Ltd is considering introducing an extra bridge watchkeeper and is reviewing the rudder capabilities of the vessel, which has a gross tonnage of 1,978 tonnes.
The 224,000-tonne Ever Given, which is the size of four football pitches, held up more than 400 vessels after blocking the Suez Canal when it was buffeted by strong winds.
A total of 14 tugs were needed to wrench it free.
