28 Jan 2010
Out-of-date on board charts and other nautical publications continue to be a contributory cause of shipping accidents, claimed a leading P&I Club.
Two incidents reviewed recently by the club emphasize why compliance with the requirement is imperative.
"In the first case, a telecommunications company alleged that a submarine cable had been damaged by a ship's anchor. The first assumption was that, if the anchor had contacted the cable, then it must have been because it was dragging and the ship had not been able to recover the anchor in due time. " However, the club-appointed surveyor quickly established that the ship had, in fact, anchored directly over the cable but that the bridge team had been completely unaware of the hazard beneath them. The surveyor identified that the ship had used an old edition of the chart, which predated the laying of the cable. Apparently, on preparing the passage plan, the second officer had not checked that he had the current edition of the chart.
" In the second case, the investigation into the circumstances in which a ship suffered damage as it struck a hazardous wreck confirmed that the current edition of the chart was in use but it had not been properly corrected. A chart correction showing the wreck had been issued some three years previously."
The club advised that the UK Hydorgraphic Office publishes 'How to keep your Admiralty Charts Up-to-Date', which is recommended read for ships using British Admiralty Charts.
Source: Tanker Operator
Two incidents reviewed recently by the club emphasize why compliance with the requirement is imperative.
"In the first case, a telecommunications company alleged that a submarine cable had been damaged by a ship's anchor. The first assumption was that, if the anchor had contacted the cable, then it must have been because it was dragging and the ship had not been able to recover the anchor in due time. " However, the club-appointed surveyor quickly established that the ship had, in fact, anchored directly over the cable but that the bridge team had been completely unaware of the hazard beneath them. The surveyor identified that the ship had used an old edition of the chart, which predated the laying of the cable. Apparently, on preparing the passage plan, the second officer had not checked that he had the current edition of the chart.
" In the second case, the investigation into the circumstances in which a ship suffered damage as it struck a hazardous wreck confirmed that the current edition of the chart was in use but it had not been properly corrected. A chart correction showing the wreck had been issued some three years previously."
The club advised that the UK Hydorgraphic Office publishes 'How to keep your Admiralty Charts Up-to-Date', which is recommended read for ships using British Admiralty Charts.
Source: Tanker Operator
No comments:
Post a Comment