Monthly Safety Scenario

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Grounding in the ArcticIt was early November and a bulker vessel was sailing the Northern Sea Route. It was one of the last transits for the year and it was starting to get cold and was dark most of the day.The bulker was carrying ore from Narvik in Northern Norway to northern China. It had a 1AS ice class and was about 40m wide. For the last few years the vessel had been frequently trading in the Baltic Sea during the winter. However, this winter the vessel would not trade in the Baltic but between Asia and the western USA. The owners thought it would be a good idea to reposition the vessel through the Northern Sea Route and asked the manager to arrange everything.

The master had sailed in the Baltic for many years during the winter and so had most of the officers. However, none of them had any experi-ence of trading in the Arctic. The manager had ordered Russian paper charts, and two ice pilots to sail with the vessel during the transit. One polar icebreaker, which was less than 40m wide, was arranged to assist the vessel. When the vessel traded in the Baltic it usually just followed an icebreaker.

Before the vessel started the transit, the Master discussed with the ice pilots how to plan the transit. It became apparent that the ice pilots’ English was not very good. The ice pilots ensured the Master that there would be no problems as they had done this many times and had never had an accident. The ice pilots said they would communicate with the icebreaker and coordinate which route to sail. The master agreed to the plan.

About three days into the transit a northerly wind started to blow. The sea had been mostly ice-free during the transit but now ice started to appear from the North.

The ice pilot told the Master it was important to avoid any multi-year ice. The problem was that

the lack of daylight made it difficult to locate any multi-year ice. The master and officers could not differentiate between new ice and multi-year ice. The icebreaker informed the ice pilot that there would be some multi-year ice. As the bulker was wider than the icebreaker it also had to break some ice.

The icebreaker suddenly made a large turn to starboard because of heavy multi-year ice. The ice pilot ordered the vessel to follow the icebreaker closely. Suddenly the port quarter hit something and the entire vessel vibrated.

A couple of minutes later the high level alarm in the engine room bilges sounded. The 2nd Engi-neer investigated and confirmed that water was entering the engine room on the port side. Bilge pumps were started but the water continued to rise.

The chief engineer informed the master that if the water continued to rise they would have to abandon the engine room.

During this time the wind increased steadily and the vessel started to drift. The Master asked if the Chief Engineer had the leak under control because he had to increase the engine power.

At the same time the master asked the ice-

Monthly Safety ScenarioApril 2014

Monthly Safety Scenario

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Monthly Safety ScenarioApril 2014

breaker if they could connect a wire to the bow but the ice breaker had problems arranging the equipment.

Suddenly the vessel stopped and there were some heavy vibrations. The Master asked the 2nd Officer if the vessel had run ground but the 2nd Officer replied that he didn’t know as the chart indicated that there was enough water. The vessel did not move and the Master asked the Chief Officer to check all tanks and compart-

` Have the highest Swedish/Finnish ice-class 1A or 1A Super. It is important to remember that this ice class is not designed for a vessel to sail in multi-year ice that exists in the polar regions.

` Have the assistance of an icebreaker which is appropriate for the conditions

` Have completed a risk assessment for the entire voyage which includes an assessment of onboard equipment and machinery and how this equipment will handle low temperatures

` The shipowner should evaluate what extra spare parts need to be onboard for the transit

` An ice pilot should be onboard assisting the crew. It is essential that the ice master is fluent in English.

The shipowner must inform theHull underwriter and P&I clubbefore trading in the polar regions.

` The shipowner should also ensure that salvage assistance can be done by an approved company

` Should ensure that the crew have been given fa-miliarization training about sailing in the polar regions

` The shipowner should ensure that the vessel adheres to the requirements of the ice-regime in the area. If there is no ice-regime in the area the vessel should operate as if it was sailing under an ice-regime. At the moment there are only two Arctic ice-regimes, namely the Russian and Canadian ones.

` The shipowner must inform the Hull underwriter and P&I club before trading in the polar regions.

A vessel should, as a minimum, fulfil the following requirements when sailing in the polar regions:

ments. After a couple of minutes there was a high level alarm from the bow thruster room. The Chief Officer and the Bosun entered the bow thruster room and confirmed that water was coming in.

The Master asked the Chief Officer if he could see any oil spill around the vessel but he said it was too dark to see any oil. The vessel then suffered a blackout and it went completely dark.

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Monthly Safety Scenario

DiscussionGo to the “File“ menu and select “Save as...“ to save the pdf-file on your computer. You can place the marker below each question to write the answer directly into the file.

1. What were the immediate causes of this accident?

2. Where did the chain of error start?

3. Is there a risk that this kind of accident could happen to our vessel?

4. How could this accident have been prevented?

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Monthly Safety Scenario

5. What sections of our SMS would have been breached, if any?

6. Is our SMS sufficient to prevent this kind of accident?

7. If procedures were breached why do you think this was the case?

8. Do we have a risk assessment onboard that addresses these risks?

9. Are there procedures in our SMS that address how to trade in difficult regions like the polar regions?

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Monthly Safety Scenario

12. Does our vessel have an ice class?

13. The infrastructure in the polar regions is minimal as there are no big ports or salvage vessels close by. How should we prepare for this?

10. What kind of training is needed before trading in the polar regions?

11. Will our equipment withstand the cold climate?

14. What kind of extra spare parts will be needed when trading in the polar regions?

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Monthly Safety Scenario

15. If the vessel is wider than the icebreaker will two icebreakers assist so that the vessel doesn’t have to break ice?

17. Would the bridge have extra officers and lookouts on watch?

16. Would the engine room be manned 24/7 to prevent a small failure becoming a disaster?

18. Do you think our navigation and communication equipment would be sufficient for the polar regions?

19. What do you think was the root cause of this accident?