Bulk carrier Aztec Maiden stranded off the coast of Wijk aan Zee on 20 January because it left the port of Amsterdam with too little ballast causing the ship to become uncontrollable and to drift to the shore. This conclusion was drawn in the Dutch Inspectie Leefomgeving en Transport’s incident report. That the ship left the port in this condition gives evidence of bad judgement in preparing the voyage and bad seamanship.
The ship left Amsterdam for Poland without cargo. At departure, the master failed to take on enough ballast water in view of weather predictions. Without ballast, the ship was too high on the water to sail normally. The Aztec Maiden was only carrying 30 per cent ballast of the total ballast capacity.
Heavy Weather and Loss on Control Lead to Stranding
The bulk carrier got into trouble when it left the jetties of IJmuiden. The ship lost control due to a combination of the weather conditions and the ship’s propeller partially sticking out above the water. In these conditions the ship heeled over to 60 degrees. The heavy conditions caused the main engine to stop several times and despite several attempts, the crew did not manage to anker the ship after which it stranded.
