The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has actually launched its record on the examination right into in 2015’s grounding of the basic freight ship Islay Trader off Margate, England, discovering that bad navigational and also bridge watchkeeping methods added to the occurrence.

The Barbados- flagged Islay Trader based on the early morning of October 8, 2017 near the seaside community of Margate in Kent after dragging support, the MAIB located.

According to the MAIB, quickly after 9 p.m. on the evening prior to the grounding, the Islay Trader secured in Margate Road where the master planned the vessel would certainly stay over night prior to beginning flow to Antwerp, Belgium the adhering to early morning. Less than 2 hrs after securing, the master handed over the bridge support watch to the primary policeman and also went to sleep.

Just prior to 2 a.m. the adhering to early morning, the primary policeman looked out by London Vessel Traffic Services that the vessel was close to Margate Sand and also might have dragged support. The MAIB located that the grounding took place when the primary policeman tried to re-anchor the vessel in an additional setting.

“During the morning of 8 October 2017, the general cargo vessel Islay Trader began dragging its anchor, the ship’s officer of the watch (OOW) attempted to reposition the vessel without the assistance of the master. The OOW subsequently became overwhelmed, uncertain of the ship’s position and at 0242 the vessel grounded near Margate beach,” the MAIB claimed in its recap of the record.

The vessel received impressions to its bow and also curved frameworks, however there were no injuries and also no air pollution.

The adhering to day, Islay Trader continued to Antwerp, Belgium to release freight prior to remaining to Dordrecht, Netherlands, for maintenance.

The MAIB claimed the examination recognized that the vessel dragged its support due to the fact that the size of support cord utilized wanted in the tidal problems experienced and also the primary policeman did not keep track of the vessel’s setting and also was not mindful that the vessel had actually dragged its support till notified by the London Vessel Traffic Service.

Further, the master was not informed that the vessel had actually dragged its support, and also when the primary policeman was trying to rearrange the vessel, he came to be bewildered by the scenario and also unclear of the vessel’s setting, the MAIB claimed.

The navigational methods aboard Islay Trader were negatively influenced by the stress arising from having just 2 bridge watchkeepers, the MAIB included.

As an outcome of the searchings for, the MAIB has actually made a suggestion (2018/114) Islay Trader’s proprietor and also supervisor, Faversham Ships Ltd, targeted at boosting the requirement of navigational and also bridge watchkeeping methods aboard its vessels.

You can check out the complete MAIB record right here: Islay Trader Grounding Report (opens as pdf)