Multiple businesses responded to the ferry grounding. [NYFD photograph]
A software program flaw mixed with the captain’s failure to make use of back-up controls led to the June 2021 grounding of the Seastreak excessive velocity ferry Commodore in New York City, says the National Transportation Safety Board.
The 150-foot catamaran ferry was transiting northbound on the East River on June 5, 2021, when it misplaced main steering and velocity management to each of its port hull water jets after which grounded, notes the NTSB. One minor harm was reported among the many seven crewmembers and 107 passengers on board. The grounding resulted in $2.5 million in damages to the vessel.
The ferry, offering commuter service between Manhattan and New Jersey, was working its second journey of the day to the East thirty fifth Street NYC Ferry Terminal from the Sandy Hook Ferry Landing in Sandy Hook, New Jersey. After passing underneath the Brooklyn Bridge, an alarm alerted indicating a management failure for the port water jets. The captain unsuccessfully tried to reconnect the port jets a number of occasions through the first management system.
The captain first tried to gradual the vessel, then he tried to go full astern, however solely the engines and water jets within the starboard hull responded. This resulted within the ferry turning to starboard and slowing. It crossed to the east aspect of the river and entered the comparatively slim opening to Bushwick Inlet. Less than two minutes after the alarm, the vessel grounded. The port hull was breached after contact with submerged pilings on the north shoreline of the Bushwick Inlet and seawater shortly entered the port engine room.
NTSB investigators discovered that the captain by no means tried to interact the back-up management, which may have been used to function the vessel following the lack of main management. NTSB investigators discovered that simpler firm coaching procedures for lack of propulsion or steering management would have included recognizing a management failure after which responding by utilizing the back-up management or different options.
Following the grounding, a service engineer for the producer of the first management system decided the software program system was producing an unprecedented variety of error messages, which induced the SD card for the show display controlling the port water jets and engines to fail. This failure resulted within the lack of the show monitor and the lack of main propulsion and steering management for the water jets and predominant engines within the port hull.
A month after the grounding, the producer issued a service letter to its prospects mandating a software program replace that might appropriate the difficulty that induced the issue on the Commodore.
The NTSB decided the possible reason for the ferry grounding was the lack of the first management system for the catamaran’s port water jets and propulsion engines as a result of a flaw within the system producer’s software program inflicting a reminiscence card failure. Contributing to the casualty, in accordance with the NTSB report, was the corporate’s lack of clear security administration system procedures for main management system failure and ineffective oversight of crew coaching on failure modes for lack of propulsion and steering management, ensuing within the captain not figuring out the character of the lack of management and both partaking back-up management or utilizing emergency engine shutdowns to cease the vessel.
“The loss of propulsion and steering control while transiting in channels or maneuvering near immediate hazards (grounding, traffic, objects), when response time is critical, demands crewmembers act quickly to mitigate potential casualties,” the report stated. “Effective company training on the loss of propulsion and steering controls builds crew confidence and proficiency and improves a crew’s ability to respond during an actual emergency. Training should include requirements for the practical demonstration of loss of control procedures and use of emergency back-up systems. Vessel owners and operators should continuously evaluate training programs to ensure effectiveness of drills and implement changes to improve safety management system procedures.”
