THE use of a personal mobile phone by an officer on watch was blamed by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) for a collision that resulted in US$12.3 million in damages and that endangered the lives of 38 crew in the Gulf of Mexico, reports Fort Lauderdale's Maritime Executive.
The safety board faults both vessels for not maintaining a proper lookout while traveling in a busy sea lane and not using the navigation resources available to help safeguard operations.
"Nonoperational use of cell phones should never interfere with the primary task of a watchstander or a bridge team member to maintain a proper lookout. It is important for personnel to follow established protocols regarding cell phone use," said the NTSB report.
The report further said both vessels only had a single person on the bridge leading up to the collision further faulting the master of the OSV for not following his company's watchkeeping policies.
The collision occurred on July 23, 2022, some 66 miles south of Port Fourchon, Louisiana. The weather was not an issue with the report saying there was good visibility, daylight, and fair-weather conditions. They further note that each vessel's automatic radar and plotting aid displays and AIS receivers were able to detect the vessels but that no alarms were set and with the officers on the bridge performing personal non-navigational tasks they were not checking the displays.
The bulbous bow of the Bunun Queen struck the port side of the Thunder. The port side propulsion room of the OSV was penetrated and started to flood. The Thunder began to list to port and trim by the stern.
The vessel lost propulsion but the chief engineer was able to maintain the electrical generators to power the ship. Eleven of the 18 crew were evacuated to another vessel in the area and the Thunder was towed to Port Fourchon.
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