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Poor communication on the bridge can lead to severe consequences

Communication obstacles have been the cause of numerous maritime accidents. Even though English is the required common language to be used worldwide (for aviation as well as maritime), a heavy accent or poor understanding of terminology can result in the EOT handle moving ahead instead of astern or the wheel port instead of starboard. Even different regional dialects within the same nation, i.e. a helmsman from the Gulf Coast not understanding the docking pilot’s command yelled with an accent out of the Maine woods, can direct a ship out of the channel and run it aground.

A helmsman is required to repeat wheel commands word for word so that the mate on watch, master or pilot is certain that their orders have been understood. That’s also why a pilot will generally punctuate his/her port and starboard rudder commands by pointing a hand left or right.

It is unknown to what extent if any such vigilance was carried out on the bridge of the 670-foot Orange Sun as it was leaving Newark Bay on the afternoon of January 24, 2008. What is known, and what appears in a recent NTSB report, is that what transpired just before the world’s largest juice carrier collided with the New York, the world’s largest backhoe dredge, was anything but professional. The interaction between the pilot, master, second officer and helmsman was more like a sad comedy of errors.

The result was $6 million in damages to the New York with lesser damage to the Orange Sun.

The report cites the master and helmsman for erratic wheel movements without the knowledge of the docking pilot. It blames the pilot for not taking into account steering problems well known to be associated with the controllable pitch propellers used on the vessel.

A Professional Mariner Magazine article outlines a bizarre sequence of events on the bridge which led to the collision. When the pilot ordered a course change from 200° to 205°, the helmsman couldn’t hold it, and the Orange Sun ended up at 208°. Attempting to counter the swing, he shifted the rudder 20° to port but only for four seconds before moving it to midships, without notifying the pilot.

When the pilot observed that the vessel was too far to the right, he commanded “midship now, port 20.” However, the helmsman instead turned the wheel to starboard 20 and then starboard 35, also known as “hard right” or maximum right rudder.

The pilot responded with, “Port 20, stupid!”

The captain ordered the helmsman--in Croatian--“To the left, move to the left!”

Yelled the pilot, “Come on, get it over there! Midship! Midship!”

The captain relieved the helmsman and took over manning the wheel.

Despite continued attempts to steer the ship out of trouble, its starboard side slammed into the New York’s port side. The dredge was disabled with flooding in several work compartments.

The NTSB report wrote that the captain failed to inform the pilot about the tendency to sheer because of the propeller system and cited the second officer for failing to adequately monitor the helmsman.

The agency recommended that Atlanship, the operator, better train its officers in bridge team management principles.

Learn your rights as a seaman by ordering free copy of The Insider's Guide to Winning Your Maritime Injury Case written by Jones Act and maritime accident injury lawyer Brian Beckcom.

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