More Musings on Ship/Yacht Collisions
Clark May 9th, 2007
A friend of a friend was just run down by a ship in the Atlantic. It just happened two days ago and legal issues are pending, so I won’t mention them by name. It sounds about like my accident: Miraculously there were no deaths or injuries, but their boat was seriously damaged, their ambitious cruising plans have come to a screeching halt, and I’m sure they’re still shaking.
Last August the yacht Ouzo was run down by the ferry Pride of Bilbao near the Isle of Wight (http://www.maib.gov.uk/publications/investigation_reports/2007/ouzo.cfm). All three crewmembers, three guys in their 30’s, were killed. The ferry saw the boat, but didn’t stop, even though they didn’t make radio contact. They just saw a light in their wake, assumed this meant Ouzo was OK, and went on their way. The light they saw was sinking fast.
On my recent 480 mile passage from Valdivia I saw about ten big ships, which passed between a half mile and six miles from me. When I spotted them I called them on the radio and got three results:
1. No answer. Either they were not monitoring the VHF radio, or they heard me and just didn’t respond.
2. Responded immediately and had their act 100% together. My ploy would usually be to ask them how I showed up on radar. Several of them answered this way: “Oh yes, you’ve got a strong return. We’ve been watching you for about the last 45 minutes. Looks like you’re doing about six knots heading due north.” Kudos to the true professionals!
3. “Huh?”
The first is perhaps the most frightening. Monitoring channel 16 on the VHF radio is the responsibility of every boat on the seas. If another vessel is in trouble, or about to get run down, this is how they might alert someone. I’m sure some of these vessels heard me, but just have a policy of not answering small vessels.
The second result needs no explanation. This is what we expect from professional mariners.
In the third case the vessels didn’t see me on radar, didn’t care, and God knows what they’re doing up there on the bridge.
To be continued tomorrow with full analysis…
“Monitoring channel 16 on the VHF radio is the responsibility of every boat on the seas.”
This has actually been modified to a “should” with the advent of DSC radios – check out the Geneva WSC document (2007)