Sad comedy of errors in collision between ship and dredge

Accident footage gets 65,000 views on YouTube

A master, helmsman and pilot each received criticism in a recently released NTSB report on a 2008 ship-dredge collision just outside Newark Harbor.

On January 24th, the 608-foot juice carrier Orange Sun was outbound when it rammed into the dredge New York in early afternoon on a clear day. The New York, listed as the world’s largest backhoe dredge, suffered $6 million in damage and salvage costs and was rendered inoperable after its store room, tool room, winch room and transformer room were flooded.

According to the report, the helmsman had problems keeping the vessel on course. As the ship veered dangerously off course to the right, he turned the rudder 20 degrees to the opposite side for only four seconds before moving the wheel to mid ships, despite the fact that the course had not been stabilized. As well, he and the master aboard the Liberian flagged ship conducted rudder maneuvers that were not authorized by the pilot.

Once, when the pilot ordered the helm a command of port 20 degrees rudder, the helmsman instead moved the rudder 35 degrees to starboard, to which the pilot relied “Port 20 stupid.” The captain gave the helmsman orders in Croatian before taking over the steering himself.

Though the master knew of the vessel’s tendency to sheer due to its controllable-pitch propellers, he failed to notify the pilot about this characteristic.

According to the report, “The helmsman's error and his failure to communicate about what was happening triggered a series of erratic wheel inputs by both him and the master.”

The pilot was also cited for not taking into account potential steering problems associated with that type of rudder system.

Source:  Professional Mariner