Steering manually in fog needs your 100 per cent attention. The Nautical Institute gives this warning in a new Mars Report, in which a close call unfolded between a passenger vessel and a commuter boat.
The Nautical Institute gathers reports of maritime accidents and near-misses. It then publishes these so-called Mars (Mariners’ Alerting and Reporting Scheme) Reports (anonymously) to prevent other accidents from happening. This is one of these reports.
In fog, a passenger vessel was outbound in restricted waterway at 15 knots. The bridge team noticed an inbound commuter boat on the radar that appeared to be trending to its own port side. They decided to head slightly to port as well to give more room, presuming a starboard-to-starboard meeting, although no communication with the commuter boat had taken place.
Meanwhile, on the inbound commuter boat with ten passengers on board, the master was having problems with the starboard engine. An alarm was incessantly sounding. In attempting to silence the alarm, the master “emergency stopped” the engine by mistake. He was then in telephone contact with the company’s technical support while he and the deckhand tried to restart the engine.
While still making 13 knots on the port engine, the master was also manually steering the vessel. During this time, they had imperceptibly made way to their port side, that is, to the opposite side of the fairway. Soon after the starboard engine had been re-started, the two crew members on the bridge realised the outbound passenger vessel was almost directly in front of them.
The master of the commuter boat applied engine power and turned sharply to starboard. The bridge team on the outbound passenger vessel saw the commuter boat coming out of the fog towards them and turning sharply to starboard, so they also initiated a turn to starboard. The vessels passed clear of each other by 10 metres.
Also read: Unexpected fog throws bridge team into disarray
Advice from The Nautical Institute
- The master of the commuter boat was overcome by numerous complex tasks and telephone communications while attempting to manually steer in fog. This is a good lesson in setting priorities; what is more important, continuing to make way at 13 knots or the safety of your vessel?
- Steering manually in fog needs your 100 per cent attention.
- Making 13 knots can reasonably be considered too fast given a restricted waterway in thick fog while meeting other vessels and attending to other tasks.
- Always adjust your speed to the weather conditions and the operational circumstances.
- Assuming an unconventional meeting such as starboard to starboard in a restricted waterway and low visibility without validating with the opposing vessel is a risky proposition.
Also read: ‘Navigating in fog is not a time to undertake administrative duties’
Mars Reports
This accident was covered in the Mars Reports, originally published as Mars 202539. A selection of the Mars Reports are also published in the SWZ|Maritime magazine. The Nautical Institute compiles these reports to help prevent maritime accidents. That is why they are also published (in full) on SWZ|Maritime’s website.
More reports are needed to keep the scheme interesting and informative. All reports are read only by the Mars coordinator and are treated in the strictest confidence. To submit a report, please use the Mars report form.
Also read: Fog and single-point failure lead to allision with bridge support
