Accidents

Grounding of Navigator Scorpio

The Navigator Scorpio was sailing with out of date charts, the planned route was not checked and positional fixes were not taken as often as required. The vessel was grounded, but refloated on the rising tide, with no damage. After the event, false information was added to the navigation chart.

On 3 January 2014, the liquefied gas carrier Navigator Scorpio ran aground on Haisborough Sand in the  North Sea. The vessel was undamaged, no pollution occurred and after two and a half hours the vessel  refloated on the rising tide.

The schedule for the Navigator Scorpio was changed close to the time of its departure. This change meant  that additional North Sea coastal charts were required. These charts were delivered to the vessel shortly  before its departure. However, they were not up to date with the latest corrections and they were not  corrected prior to sailing. In addition, the passage plan (i.e., vessel route) was not checked by the master  before sailing.

When the master checked the passage plan, which had been drawn up by the second officer (2/O), he  suggested a change to a portion of the route. After discussion with the 2/O the route was left unchanged,  but with a requirement that position fixes be obtained every five minutes rather than every fifteen. Whilst  acting as the sole bridge watchkeeper the 2/O was distracted by further passage planning activities and  lost positional awareness. This led to the grounding of the vessel. After the grounding false information  was added to the navigation chart to give the appearance that five minute positional fixes had been taken.

This incident highlights the importance of the timeliness Data Property, with respect to both the additional  North Sea charts and the master’s check of the passage plan.

In addition, the fluidity of the chart data allowed the 2/O to make false post-grounding additions to create  an incorrect impression. According to the MAIB’s report, such actions are not uncommon. These actions  affect the verifiability of the chart data, which makes post-accident investigations more complicated.

Links

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/547c6f1740f0b6024100000d/NavigatorScorpio.pdf 
(accessed 29 November 2017).