[Madge]

Nobody watching as ship ran aground, report notes


CANADIAN PRESS

HALIFAX — A Japanese fishing boat that ran aground outside Halifax harbour last year had no full-time captain, no helmsman, no navigator and no lookout on the ship's bridge when it smashed into rocks south of the Nova Scotia capital.

A preliminary investigation by the Canadian Transportation Safety Board determined "no one was monitoring the vessel's progress when it ran aground."

In an October 2003 letter, obtained by The Canadian Press under federal access to information laws, the board summarized the preliminary findings of investigators in the accident involving the Shinei Maru 85.

"In the 11 years I've been with TSB, I've never come across something like this where there was no one looking where the ship was going," said Pierre Murray, the board's manager of marine operations in Halifax.

"I came across other things where people fell asleep and there was no one looking, but I (have) never come across this before."

Automated pilot systems on modern ships are primarily designed for — and used — in the open ocean.

Murray said it's too risky to use them close to shore because of the danger of either a collision with other vessels, or running aground.

The letter pointed out several other concerns, including a language barrier between the harbour pilot and the crew, and inadequate operating procedures on the bridge of the 48-metre longliner.

The document was sent to both the ship's owners and Japan's commissioner of marine accidents and safety.

To date, Murray said, Canadian officials have not received a reply.

It is not clear, at this point, whether the vessel or any of its officers will be charged under Canadian transportation laws.

The Shinei Maru 85 ran hard aground in Portuguese Cove, N.S., shortly after leaving Halifax on May 3, 2003.

Three forward fuel tanks in the 379-tonne vessel were ruptured, causing a minor fuel spill along the shoreline.

There were no injuries to the vessels' crew of 24 Japanese and Indonesian sailors.

At the time, RCMP checked into reports that the helmsman may have been drunk, but the theory was discounted and no charges were laid.

Investigators determined that the vessel had been "set to auto pilot" almost from the moment it left dock in Halifax.

The ship's progress was also not monitored either by radar or by a plotting chart, said the Oct. 3, 2003 document.

A local marine pilot did guide the longliner to the edge of the harbour and gave traffic safety instructions to the ship's radio officer, "whom he assumed to be the captain since no introductions had been made."

The mixup was attributed to "a language barrier" problem.

The Atlantic Pilotage Authority did an internal review to determine if the harbour pilot left the vessel too soon. But spokesman Capt. Anthony MacInnis said pilots have the discretion to decide when to board or depart vessels.

"I've not come across anything like that either," he said. "I don't believe the pilot did anything wrong under the circumstances. When introductions were made, he did assume this was the master. The person came across with that kind of authority, but there was definitely a language problem."

MacInnis said it was an unusual situation because most foreign vessels have someone who speaks either English or French and can act as a translator.

Further complicating the matter was the fact that the Shinei Maru's acting captain was doubling as the vessel's fishing master — jobs that are usually distinct on other boats.