MARINE SAFETY INVESTIGATION REPORT 169 Independent investigation into the grounding of the Kerguelen Islands (French) registered Mirande in Port Phillip Bay, Victoria on 28 June 2001 Department of Transport and Regional Services Australian Transport Safety Bureau Navigation Act 1912 Navigation (Marine Casualty) Regulations investigation into the grounding of the Kerguelen Islands (French) registered ship Mirande in Port Phillip Bay, Victoria on 28 June 2001 Report No 169 March 2003 ISSN 1447-087X ISBN 1 877071 27 7 Investigations into marine casualties occurring within the Commonwealth's jurisdiction are conducted under the provisions of the Navigation (Marine Casualty) Regulations, made pursuant to subsections 425 (1) (ea) and 425 (1AAA) of the Navigation Act 1912. The Regulations provide discretionary powers to the Inspector to investigate incidents as defined by the Regulations. Where an investigation is undertaken, the Inspector must submit a report to the Executive Director of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB). It is ATSB policy to publish such reports in full as an educational tool to increase awareness of the causes of marine incidents so as to improve safety at sea and enhance the protection of the marine environment. To increase the value of the safety material presented in this report, readers are encouraged to copy or reprint the material, in part or in whole, for further distribution, but should acknowledge the source. Additional copies of the report can be downloaded from the Bureau’s website www.atsb.gov.au Australian Transport Safety Bureau PO Box 967 Civic Square ACT 2608 AUSTRALIA Phone: 02 6274 6478 1800 621 372 Fax: 02 6274 6699 E-mail: [email protected] ii Contents Summary . .1 Sources of information . .2 Acknowledgments . .2 Narrative . .3 Mirande . .3 Pilotage . .3 Pilot . .3 The incident . .4 Comment and analysis . .9 Evidence . .9 Steering gear . .9 The pilot and ship’s bridge team . .11 The chief engineer . .12 AMSA . .12 Conclusions . .13 Recommendations . .15 Submissions . .17 Mirande . .19 Figures 1. Mirande . .iv 2. Portion of chart Aus 143 showing track of Mirande . .5 3. Steering gear control panel . .10 4. Mirande: Events and causal factors chart . .14 iii FIGURE 1: Mirande iv master and chief engineer. The master’s alcohol Summary reading was 0.29 g/100 ml and that of the chief engineer was 0.13 g/100 ml. On 27 June 2001, the multi-purpose cargo The report conclusions include: vessel Mirande berthed at Geelong to load a cargo of barley. Whilst alongside, an AMSA • Two fuses in the primary side of the surveyor on board for an inspection, formed the transformer supplying power to the port opinion that the master and chief engineer were telemotor system blew, causing failure of the hand steering in use at the time. under the influence of alcohol and formally advised them to cease drinking so that they • The mate and third mate had inadequate would be fit at sailing time. knowledge of the bridge equipment, partic- ularly the emergency steering change-over When the pilot boarded for departure, the ship’s procedures. chief engineer came to the bridge and whilst not claiming to be the master, he did not deny it • The helmsman had received no training in when addressed as ‘captain’. emergency steering procedures. During the outward passage, as the ship passed • Intoxication of the master resulted in his to the south of beacon 12 in the South Channel, absence from the bridge at the time of the steering failure and hence in a lack of proper the ship’s steering gear suffered a telemotor leadership, experience and knowledge at a system failure. None of the bridge team, time when it was particularly needed. however, attempted to change to the other system or attempted to use the non-follow-up The report makes recommendations to: (NFU) steering controls. The ship’s momentum and the proximity of the edge of the channel, • The Australian Maritime Safety Authority should seek legislation to allow suitably however, resulted in the ship grounding within a trained AMSA marine surveyors, where there few minutes. are reasonable grounds to do so, to measure blood alcohol levels of ship’s crews using After the grounding, the pilot asked for the breath analysis equipment. A positive test of master to return to the bridge but to no avail. a master or key operational crew should Eventually the pilot was told that the master was provide grounds for detaining the vessel. ‘drunk’. The water police were called and AMSA should also advise the relevant arrived on board at 0020 on 29 June 2001. harbour master or marine authority of the They performed preliminary breath tests on the situation. pilot and the first, second and third mates. The results of all these tests were negative. The • Ship’s officers should ensure that they (and police officer then went below and tested the any appropriate seamen) are familiar with the emergency operation of all ship’s equipment. 1 Sources of Information Officers and crew of Mirande The Port Phillip pilot Australian Federal Police Victoria Police Service Electrotech Pty.Ltd Victorian Channels Authority Acknowledgements Certain reproductions of chart sections in this publication are reproduced by permission of The Australian Hydrographic Service. © Commonwealth of Australia 13 October 2000. All rights reserved. Other than for the purposes of copying this publication for public use, the chart information from the chart sections may not be extracted, translated, or reduced to any electronic medium or machine readable form for incorporation into a derived product, in whole or part, without the prior written consent of the Australian Hydrographic Service. 2 After clearing Point Richards Channel, ships Narrative have a run of about 21 miles in open water, with depths from 15 m to 24 m, to Hovell Pile. Hovell Pile marks the entrance to South Channel from where there is a run of just over Mirande 13 miles to clear Port Phillip entrance, known as Mirande is a five-hold general-purpose cargo the Rip. South Channel has a maintained ship. It can carry general cargo, bulk cargo or minimum depth of 13.1 m. containers in various combinations. There are A pilot is said to have the ‘conduct of the ship’ five 30 tonne cranes on board which serve the although he does not belong to the ship’s crew. hatches when loading or discharging. The ship He is not in command of the ship but he/she is was built by the Dalian Shipyard in China and there to manage the navigation of the ship, was delivered to the present owners in March while at all times the master remains in 1998. It is in class with Bureau Veritas. command. The pilot provides ship handling The vessel has a length overall of 181.00 m, a skills and knowledge of local conditions. The beam of 26.00 m, a depth of 14.4 m and a master remains responsible for the safe summer draft of 10.02 m. Its gross tonnage navigation, the proper conduct of the crew and (GT) is 18 597, net tonnage (NT) is 9 789 and the efficient operation of the engine(s) and all deadweight is 29 538 tonnes. It has a container other equipment. capacity of 1 172 twenty-foot equivalent units Section 410B of the Navigation Act 1912 (TEU). The ship is powered by a single B&W provides: 5S50MC slow speed diesel engine delivering 5 998kW to a single fixed-pitch propeller. The A pilot who has conduct of a ship is subject to vessel’s complement consists of five French and the authority of the master of the ship and the thirteen Indian nationals. The master, mate, master is not relieved from responsibility for the second mate and chief engineer were French conduct and navigation of the ship by reason only nationals. of the ship being under pilotage. The pilot Pilotage The pilot assigned the pilotage for Mirande that Port Phillip in Victoria is the site of two ports, evening had about 25 years seagoing experience the port of Melbourne and the port of Geelong. in a variety of ship types. He held a Class 1 The Victorian Channels Authority is responsible, Masters certificate and had been a licenced pilot under the Port Services Act 1995, for the (restricted) for about one year. management of port waters for both ports. Port Phillip Sea Pilots is the pilot service provider When the pilot arrived at the berth at about for both ports. 1730 and checked the draught he immediately realised that his licence did not qualify him to Sailing from Geelong, ships negotiate a channel conduct the pilotage for Mirande, given its of about 16 miles in length before reaching maximum draught of 10.05 m. He contacted the open water. The channel consists of four legs, managing director of Port Phillip Sea Pilots Corio Channel, Hopetoun Channel, Wilson Spit himself a very experienced senior pilot, for Channel and Point Richards Channel. The Port instructions. of Geelong and its channels have a collective minimum depth of 12.3 m. 3 The managing director gave the pilot a verbal time. The master acknowledged this advice and dispensation to pilot the vessel that evening. agreed to stop drinking forthwith. This dispensation was given under a long- standing, but unwritten, arrangement between At 1700, the second and third mates, together the Pilot Service and the Marine Board of with the deck cadet, tested the bridge equipment Victoria, whereby, under special circumstances, in preparation for departure. Sailing was the managing director was empowered to scheduled for 1800. At 1730, near to provide such a temporary dispensation. completion of the tests, the deck cadet went down to the main deck to meet the pilot whom The managing director knew that it would take he had seen arriving at the wharf.