Achi news desk-
Ten people suffered serious injuries which meant they were unable to work for 72 hours or more as a result of the accident off Swana, the uninhabited privately owned island in the Pentland Firth off the north coast of Scotland which is part of the Orkney archipelago.
The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) found that the master of the Pentland Ferries vessel MV Alfred “almost certainly” fell asleep moments before it crashed in July, 2022.
The investigation also found that Alfred’s journey plan was inadequate and that its Electronic Chart Display Information System, which is the ferry’s main navigation method, was not being used effectively to support safe navigation and warn of danger.
READ MORE: Scotland’s £1m-a-month emergency ferry previously crashed after master fell asleep
The MV Alfred, once described as the most environmentally friendly ferry in Scotland, had 84 passengers and 13 crew on board when it partially ran aground on the Isle of Swana, the northernmost of the two islands in the Pentland Firth between the Orch Islands and Caithness on the Scottish mainland.
RNLI lifeboats were called to evacuate the £14m Vietnamese-built catamaran – with one person rushed to hospital with a broken shoulder.
Dozens were feared to have suffered mental trauma and physical injuries including cuts, sprains and soft tissue damage.
CCTV images showed passengers and crew being thrown violently onto the deck and others pushed over benches.
The ferry has since been introduced by Transport Scotland as an ’emergency boat’ from April 2023 with Pentland Ferries operating the services on behalf of state-owned ferry company CalMac.
But it has emerged that the MAIB is also concerned that among the safety issues raised by the accident was that it was allowed to go “normally” too close to land.
He said the shipmaster’s “considerable experience” on the route and the highly repetitive nature of Alfred’s schedule between Gills Bay and St Margaret’s Hope “probably desensitized him to the risks of traveling close to shore”.
And the MAIB found that the ship’s “inadequate transit plan” had been in place since Alfred entered service in 2019, that it was a “significant safety issue” that went “undetected” by annual company inspections and surveys by the Agency Sea and Coastguard, the official publicly funded UK Government Agency responsible for safety at sea.
The MAIB said “given that trip planning and the correct operation of bridge equipment are essential to the safe operation of all ships, it is essential that these are subject to assurance during the inspection and inspection processes”.
The MAIB says it was only until the MCA’s general inspection after the accident that the ship’s voyage planning and other issues were found to be “deficient”.
MV Alfred having recently returned to Troon
Following the accident, they issued a “major non-conformity because Pentland Ferries’ safety management procedures for bridge manning and passage planning were not being followed.
The Orch Islands Council Harbor Authority, which is responsible for security in the harbor area, created what are described as vessel traffic services (VTS) protection zones just over half a mile from the coast around the islands of Stroma and Swana.
The purpose of VTS is to “contribute to the safety of life at sea”, improve the efficiency of boat navigation and mitigate the development of “unsafe situations” by providing timely and relevant information that could influence ship movements and assist in decision-making on board. . It is also there to monitor and control ship traffic to “ensure the safety and efficiency of boat movements.
The system automatically alerts the VTS operator of a vessel entering the zone.
According to researchers, the system gives the operator the opportunity to warn the ship’s crew about the development of so-called “unsafe situations”.
And according to the MAIB, the track of the MV Alfred “triggered” the VTS protection zones around the islands of Stroma and Swana.
It also did so before the accident, but the VTS operators did not call the ferry.
The MAIB said that the harbor authority’s Valuation Tribunal Service did not monitor the movement of the ferry and did not raise the alarm when it entered the danger zone.
The MV Alfred had entered Orkney’s territorial waters two minutes before she ran aground.
Investigators say the VTS operators were aware that master Alfred “routinely” entered the protected zone but considered it “low risk” and “did not monitor the safety of navigation of the ferry’s journey through their area”.
“It is therefore not surprising that the VTS operators did not warn master Alfred that he was entering Swana’s protected zone on the day of the accident,” said an investigation analysis. “Given that this protected zone is not marked on the navigation chart or referred to in the port’s transit plan, it is possible that the master was unaware that he had entered the zone.
“However, if the VTS operators had challenged master Alfred… they might have informed him of the risk he was taking, and possibly prevented the ship from coming to earth.
Alfred’s master had held a Pilot Exemption Certificate (PEC) since 2004. This meant that he met certain criteria demonstrating the ability to safely control his vessel in the waters in question.
But the MAIB says that although a revalidation in 2019 included a licensed harbor pilot observing the master’s performance, it did not include an assessment of the trip plan or a review of his past navigation tracks.
“Therefore the opportunity was lost to remind the master to keep Alfred clear of Swana’s protection zone,” they said.
The MAIB said that the master’s PEC had been suspended following the accident and that the harbor authority had taken steps to “improve its supervision” of ferry operations in its waters.
In the meantime, he recommended that the MCA instruct its surveyors to ensure that boat journey plans are available.
The investigation into the accident found that the master’s sleep went unnoticed, and he was not woken or warned because there was no bridge watch and the BNWAS (Bridge Navigation Watch Alarm System) had to turn off.
The investigators also found that, although the vessel had been on the ground for over an hour, neither the crew nor the Pentland Ferries ERT (emergency response team) had attempted to obtain a nominal list of the people on board, their injuries, or whether they had been evacuated to the lifeboat. .
And the MAIB said that the number and severity of injuries suffered by Alfred’s passengers and crew almost certainly increased because they were not warned to brace for an impact before the ship landed at speed.
A spokesman for Orkney Council said: “We have considered and accepted the findings of the MAIB investigation. Since the ground-breaking event, a number of improvements have been implemented, including better communication with all local ferry companies on their journey plans, a better audit process around this and a better PEC revalidation process.”
Pentland Ferries said it welcomed the inquiry’s report and was continuing to consider its content.
The managing director, Helen Inkster, said: “We adhere to the premise of the report, which is not to assign blame or liability, but rather to ensure that future accidents across the maritime industry are prevented.
“Although we will never be complacent, we are satisfied that all the steps that Pentland Ferries could take to ensure the safety of passengers have already been taken. We will always ensure that our boats have detailed procedural plans, the right people and rigorous training arrangements in place.”
The MCA has been contacted for comment.
