SAFETY REPORT Small Craft Passenger Transport in Greenland OCTOBER 2020 SAFETY REPORT on SMALL CRAFT PASSENGER TRANSPORT in GREENLAND Published By

SAFETY REPORT Small craft passenger transport in Greenland OCTOBER 2020 SAFETY REPORT ON SMALL CRAFT PASSENGER TRANSPORT IN GREENLAND published by DMAIB Danish Maritime Accident Investigation Board Batterivej 9 DK-4220 Korsoer Denmark The report is issued on 1 October 2020. Photo: Passenger craft in Greenlandic waters Source: Private photo The report may be reused in any format or medium. You must reuse it accurately and not in a misleading context. You must give the title of the source publication. Where we have identified any third party copyright mate- rial you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned. The investigations are carried out separately from the cri- minal investigation, without having used legal evidence procedures and with no other basic aim than learning about accidents with the purpose of gaining and promo- ting an understanding of safety. Consequently, any use of this report for other purposes may lead to erroneous or misleading interpretations. 2 Content Board statement �� 5 Introduction � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 6 PART 1: PASSENGERS, CRAFT AND VENDORS . 7 Passengers �� 8 Description of passengers on small passenger boats . 8 Passengers’ notion of safety ��10 Passenger craft and vendors� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 11 Diversity in small craft. 11 Craft owner and crew’s notion of safety. 12 Types of craft – commercial or recreational ��12 Authorities’ notion of safety ��14 Craft used by professional vendors ��14 Manning the craft ��16 Language barriers. 17 Craft used by other vendors ��17 Safety implications �� 20 Structural vulnerability of small craft ��20 Emergency equipment ��20 Attitudes towards lifesaving equipment . 22 Maintenance . 23 Operation of small craft ��23 PART 2: COASTAL NAVIGATION . 24 Navigation in Greenland �� 25 Geography ��25 Climate ��29 Quality of sea charts. 30 Safety implications � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 33 PART 3: SEARCH AND RESCUE . 35 SAR operations. 36 Reporting incidents. 36 3 PART 4: REGULATION OF SMALL PASSENGER CRAFTS ��37 Regulation �� 38 Order on small commercial vessels carrying a max. of 12 passengers . 38 Provisions . 39 Safety implications �� 41 PART 5: CONCLUSIONS ��42 Safety challenges . 43 Properties of the craft and equipment ��43 The operation of the craft . 44 ANNEX: GROUNDING OF JUVEL ��45 Investigation �� 46 Background ��46 Sequence of events ��47 Navigation on JUVEL ��49 JUVEL’s regulatory history ��49 Analysis and conclusion � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 50 The grounding. 50 The evacuation . 51 4 Board statement The Danish Maritime Accident Investigation Board (DMAIB) has been notified of several seri- ous accidents in Greenland involving small craft below 15 metres in length. Most of the accidents resulting in fatalities have not been investigated, because they were outside the scope of the regulatory framework of the investigation board, being legally considered to be leisure craft. Two accidents, which were within the DMAIB jurisdiction, because they were considered to be commercial craft transporting passengers, only resulted in damage to the craft, but had the potential to cause multiple fatalities. The investigations showed that accidents involving small craft passenger transport cannot be explained without an understanding of the necessity of everyday seaborne travel and the highly specialised competencies necessary for navigating safely in the desolate and remote areas of Greenland. These competencies are largely based on traditions and skills derived from leisure boating. Therefore the investigation into small craft safety cannot be limited to commercial craft, but most also in part comprise leisure craft. The intention of this report is to shed light on safety issues related to small craft passenger transport and is aimed at the Danish and Greenland authorities, navigational colleges and cruise ship operators who depend on small craft passenger transportation. The scope of this safety report is thus twofold: Firstly, to provide a general overview of small craft passenger transport in Greenland and, secondly, to gain an understanding of the safety problems that the operators and the craft’s crews meet when they operate in the arctic waters of Greenland. The investigation is based on data gathered from various parties directly and indirectly involved, e.g. the regulatory and judicial authorities, operators and crew, passengers, trade organisations and rescue services. There is little statistical information about marine accidents and incidents in Greenland, particularly related to small craft. The limited statistical information available has thus not been useful in shedding light on the subject. The report is organised as follows: • Part 1 outlines the passengers, the craft and the vendors and describes the safety implications of using small craft for passenger transportation. • Part 2 describes the challenges of coastal navigation and the safety implications for small passenger craft. • Part 3 briefly describes the organisational aspects of search and rescue in Greenland. • Part 4 describes how small passenger craft are regulated and how it affects the safe operation of passenger craft. • Part 5 presents conclusions from the safety implications described in the previous parts of the report. The conclusion can be read independently of the other parts of the report. 5 Introduction The absence of land-based transport infrastructure in Greenland necessitates transportation by sea when travelling between the settlements and towns, which are predominantly loca- ted near Greenland’s coastline. Furthermore, many leisure and commercial activities involve transportation by sea such as fishing and hunting, recreational activities and guided tours to tourist attractions. In Greenland transportation by sea is a necessary and everyday activity which is highly interwoven with society and is not perceived as a high-risk activity that neces- sarily requires a formalised approach to safety, e.g. in terms of a formalised theoretical and practical training. Thereby, commercial and leisure activities at sea are inextricably linked. Greenland’s 44,087 km coastline has a large variation in the geographic and meteorological conditions, which needs to be considered when navigating with small craft along the Green- land coastline, e.g. movement of ice, rapidly changing weather conditions and the location of underwater rocks. Knowledge about these conditions largely remains isolated to the local population who operate the small craft due to the remoteness of some populated areas. In terms of safety, three different groups play key roles: The authorities responsible for regu- lating safety at sea, the operators/crew who manage the

Load more