The captain and the pilot of the "City of Rotterdam" have been sentenced to four months in prison for their involvement in the collision with the "Primula Seaways" on Dec 3, 2015. Capt. Ruslan Urumov and pilot Gehan Sirimanne both pled guilty to charges of conduct endangering a ship; the court has suspended their sentences for a period of 18 months.In addition, Sirimanne must pay $60,000 in court costs, an amount that will be covered by his former employer, Associated British Ports.On the evening of Dec 3, 2015, the "City of Rotterdam" departed the port of Inningham, England.While the vessel was outbound, strong winds and a pronounced tidal stream set her to the north, towards the inbound lane. The "Primula Seaways" was headed inbound making 14 knots, and the VTS watchstander alerted her of the "City of Rotterdam"'s situation and the growing risk of collision.Aboard the "City of Rotterdam", the pilot made a gradual series of course corrections to offset the wind and current and bring her back to the south.The heading changes were not sufficient, and the vessels collided.The "City of Rotterdam" suffered damage below the waterline and a long gash along her port bow, and the "Primula Seaways" required about $3 million in repairs to her bow and forecastle. The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) concluded that the incident was due to the pilot’s loss of situational awareness and the bridge team's failure to intervene, all exacerbated by an unusual bridge layout. The MAIB determined that the Rotterdam’s pilot failed to apprehend the developing risk of collision because he had experienced "relative motion illusion" – that is, he was mistaken about the ship’s direction of travel.The "City of Rotterdam"'s bridge windows are laid out in a semi-circle, not in a straight line as found on conventional vessels.Only the middle window looks ahead, and all other windows frame a view that is off of the centerline axis. The MAIB determined that this layout – combined with the absence of any bow or jackstaff visible from the bridge – can be disorienting for watchstanders, even when they are aware of the problem.VDR audio recordings from the "City of Rotterdam" confirmed that prior to the collision, pilot Sirimanne believed that he was traveling in the direction that he was looking – but he was looking off the centerline axis. Capt. Urumov was on the bridge but did not intervene until it was too late to prevent a collision. Court testimony indicated that both men were well-regarded members of the maritime community, and both had more than 30 years’ experience at sea. In sentencing, Judge Jeremy Richardson acknowledged that the ship's design may have played a role in the accident. How it happened?On 3 December 2015 the Panama registered pure car carrier City of Rotterdam collided with the Danish registered ro-ro ferry Primula Seaways on the River Humber. Both vessels were damaged but made their way to Immingham without assistance. There was no pollution and there were no serious injuries.Safety issuesThe pilot’s actions resulted from a ‘relative motion illusion’ Robust challenges to the pilot’s actions could have prevented his illusion from leading to the collision Off-axis bridge windows and lack of visual references led to pilot’s disorientation Ergonomic impact of innovative bridge design not fully assessedRecommendationsBureau Veritas, City of Rotterdam’s classification society, has been recommended (2017/104 and 2017/105) to propose measures to the International Association of Classification Societies that are aimed at raising the awareness of relative motion illusion and promoting the need for naval architects and shipbuilders to adhere to internationally accepted ergonomic principles for bridge design.
ACCIDENTS
13 November 2017 - 12:01
Update: 13 November 2017 - 23:02
Captain and pilot of "City of Rotterdam" sentenced to four months in prison
Captain and pilot sentenced to four months in prison
ACCIDENTS
13 November 2017 - 12:01
Update: 13 November 2017 - 23:02
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