On the morning of Friday 13 December 1996, the Australian
fishing vessel Moonshot was trawling for prawns off Pakhoi Bank,
north of Cape Upstart, Northern Queensland. At about 0330, with the
vessel trawling in a north-north-westerly direction, the Skipper
handed over to a deckhand and went below to get some sleep.
Shortly before 0400, the Skipper was aroused by a shout from the
deckhand. Scrambling up into the wheelhouse, he saw the bow of a
ship very close on the starboard bow and only had time to brace
himself before the stem of Moonshot came in contact with the port
bow of the ship. Moonshot was pushed around to port, heeling
dangerously to port as the starboard fishing boom came in contact
with the side of the ship. As the ship passed clear, the deckhand
saw the word ISTANBUL on its stern.
The ship did not stop, or respond to the Skipper's calls on VHF
16.
Moonshot received damage to the stem and starboard bow, also to
the starboard fishing boom. After ascertaining that the vessel was
not taking water, the crew retrieved the fishing gear, then
returned to Townsville for Moonshot to undergo repairs.
The Turkish bulk carrier Gumbet was on a ballast passage from
Hong Kong to Geelong and had disembarked the Barrier Reef pilot off
Cairns at 1230 on Thursday 12 December 1996.
When the Master went to the bridge at 0630 on 13 December, for
his customary morning check, he was informed that the Second Mate
had experienced a close quarters situation with a fishing vessel at
0340, off Tink Shoal. The Master telexed a brief account of the
reported incident to the vessel's owner.
When Gumbet arrived at Geelong on 18 December, it bore signs of
a recent contact between the light and load water lines on the port
bow.
Conclusion
These conclusions identify the factors contributing to the
incident and should not be taken as apportioning either blame or
liability.
The main contributing factors are considered to be:
The inexperience of the Watch Officer aboard Gumbet, as a result
of which:
- He did not allow a sufficiently wide berth when passing the
fishing vessels;
- He did not use visual bearings or the radar to full effect to
correctly ascertain the courses of the fishing vessels and to
determine whether risk of collision existed;
- After the incident with Moonshot, he did not make contact with
the fishing vessel to ascertain whether the crew were injured and
whether they needed assistance.
The lack of formal marine training of the person left in charge
of Moonshot, as a result of which:
- The progress of Gumbet was not properly monitored, the risk of
collision was not assessed and the developing situation was not
appreciated;
- An inappropriate course alteration was made, which nullified
action taken by the other vessel.
- It is considered that the Master of Gumbet was unaware of the
incident and so was not aware that his vessel may have been
involved in a collision.
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