A report has found alcohol played a role in an incident that saw a 5,344 tonne cargo ship run aground near the Isle of Skye.
Jägermeister and beers were consumed by crew members of the BBC Marmara prior to the vessel’s collision with Eilean Trodday in the Little Minch.
The vessel was enroute from Foynes in Ireland to Scrabster, Caithness, in July 2021 when it ran aground near the north-west coast of Skye.
BBC Marmara ran aground in the early hours of July 25 2021, with a Marine Accident Investigations Branch (MAIB) report on the incident published recently.
The MAIB report said: “An able seaman (AB) learned of the death of a family member and invited three crew members back to his cabin for an informal wake. From about
8.30pm, the AB, an ordinary seaman (OS), the second officer (2/O) and a cadet drank
beer and Jägermeister in the AB’s cabin.
“At approximately 11.30pm, the 2/O left the wake to take over the watch from the master, arriving on the bridge shortly before midnight.
“The master left the bridge after a brief handover and conversation with the 2/O. At
12.17am, approximately 10 minutes later, the cadet and AB from the earlier gathering
arrived on the bridge carrying three more cans of beer that the master had given
to them. Following a lively conversation, the drinking of the beer and joking
around between the three crew members, the 2/O talked the cadet through the
process of making a very high frequency (VHF) radio call to Stornoway Maritime
Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC).
“At 12.40am, the VHF call to Stornoway MRCC was completed by the cadet and shortly afterwards an alteration of course to 006° was made in line with the passage plan.
The conversation continued between the three crew members, while music was
played. By 12.58am when an alteration of course was made to 025°, the 2/O was on
the bridge alone.
“At 2.10am, BBC Marmara overshot a planned alteration of course. At 2.14am, the
Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) alarm sounded to indicate
that the vessel had exceeded the maximum planned cross-track distance.”
The MAIB report added: “At 2.48am, loud snoring could be heard on the voyage data recorder that continued intermittently as the vessel crossed its planned track. At 3.30am, the ECDIS look ahead alarm sounded and, at 3.32am, BBC Marmara ran aground on Eilean Trodday at a speed of 11.2 knots.
In its summary, the report said: “The officer of the watch had been drinking alcohol immediately before and at the start of his watch. The safety management system put in place by the owners and managers was ineffective in controlling the shipboard practices involved in this grounding.
“The owners and managers did not have the necessary assurance tools in place to understand whether the control measures implemented for alcohol and the use of both a lookout and a bridge watch alarm had been implemented successfully.
“The voyage plan in use differed from the approved voyage plan supplied by the authorised voyage planning service for the vessel.”
The MAIB report also found: “The watchkeepers at Stornoway Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre did not intervene before the grounding as they were distracted by an ongoing search and rescue incident.”
BBC Marmara’s owners and managers Briese Schiffahrts GmbH & Co. KG has reportedly taken steps to improve its safety management system, particularly practices related to alcohol consumption, lookouts and watch alarms.
The MAIB report added: “The Maritime and Coastguard Agency has conducted a review of the accident and taken several steps to improve the level of vessel traffic monitoring across the national network.”
The 2010-built BBC Marmara was predominantly used to carry dry bulk and containers and had been transporting 1,407 tonnes of concrete beams when it collided with Eilean Trodday.
No injuries were reported amongst the 12 crew members, which consisted of Russian and Ukrainian nationals and one German.
The MAIB also described the sea state at the time as “smooth”, but with “moderate to very poor visibility” in the area.
The cargo ship was refloated successfully and then sailed to Stornoway, before a dive inspection confirmed there was significant damage to the forward section of its hull.
BBC Marmara suffered a penetrated bow thruster space and forepeak tanks, but an inspection granted permission for BBC Marmara to sail to Scrabster to offload her cargo, before she proceeded to a Polish drydock.