Report on the investigation of the grounding of the general cargo vessel BBC Marmara in the Little Minch, off the west coast of Scotland on 25 July 2021.
Summary:
At 0332 on 25 July 2021, the cargo vessel BBC Marmara ran aground on the island of Eilean Trodday while transiting the Little Minch, off the west coast of Scotland. The vessel was on passage from Foynes, Republic of Ireland to Scrabster, Scotland. It was refloated successfully and then proceeded to the port of Stornoway, where a dive inspection confirmed significant damage to the forward part of the vessel’s hull that included penetration of the bow thruster space and forepeak tanks. A port state inspection granted permission for BBC Marmara to sail to Scrabster to offload cargo before proceeding to a dry dock in Poland for repairs.
The key safety issues identified were:
- The vessel diverged from the planned track when the Officer of the Watch (OOW) fell asleep. The safeguards to prevent this happening: lookout, Bridge Navigational Watch Alarm System (BNWAS) and coastguard interventions had been removed.
- The OOW had been drinking prior to, and on taking, the watch. Abuse of alcohol was tolerated by senior officers and events leading up to the grounding were indicative of a lack of responsibility at every level of management onboard.
- The vessel traffic management (VTM) operator at Stornoway became distracted by another task because they had not received training nor had sufficient processes to manage the hazard of distraction interfering with the VTM role
Safety recommendations:
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency is recommended to:
- Ensure that the hazards of distraction to vigilance-based roles such as VTM and the management of vigilance related hazards are captured in appropriate training packages, practices, and the Coastguard Information Portal pages.
- Carry out a study into the cognitive performance needed by coastguard teams to successfully maintain the VTM function throughout the national network and implement the findings of the study when considering the future management of the network.
Briese Schiffahrts GmbH & Co. KG is recommended to:
- Determine and implement the crew resource needed to avoid a conflict between safe navigation and operational tasks such as maintenance. This should include a link to safety management requirements to ensure STCW guidance is followed, and a lookout is on the bridge during hours of darkness and in restricted visibility.
- Review and implement the management assurance tools necessary to provide accurate feedback on the effectiveness of its SMS navigation practices, including, but not limited to, the presence of a lookout during hours of darkness or in restricted visibility, the use of the BNWAS while at sea and standards of passage monitoring
