Summary
Pierre LD, a bulk carrier of 165,239 tonnes deadweight, registered in French Antarctic Territory, sailed from the Western Australian port of Dampier on 21 November 1992 with a full cargo of iron ore. While transiting the departure channel, the ship suffered a major electrical failure together with a failure of the emergency steering system. The ship veered out of the departure channel and grounded to the east of East Malus Island.
The ship remained fast aground for 48 hours and suffered damage to bottom plating, including being holed in four places. Temporary repairs were carried out at anchorage off Dampier, and the ship was permitted to sail to Fos sur Mer, France on 19 December, accompanied by the escort vessel Pacific Taipan.
Conclusions
It is considered that:
- Although a sequence of failures occurred, the grounding was the result of the failure of the emergency steering system.
- The failure of the emergency steering system was due to a faulty electrical connection to the starboard solenoid control valve.
- The loose electrical connection is reflective of the quality control measures in the shipyard.
- The power failure was due to a 24V DC voltage stabiliser unit tripping out on overload, activating the emergency stops to the main engine and diesel generators.
- The 24V DC stabiliser unit was not fail-safe and was therefore a weak link in an otherwise fail-safe system.
- The lack of a stabiliser unit remote alarm indicator in the control room is a design fault.
- Even had it been possible to let go the anchors from the bridge, at the speed at which the ship was proceeding, in all probability both anchors and cables would have been lost.