The German Federal Bureau of Maritime Casualty Investigation (BSU) has released its report into the collision with a pier/dry dock by the car carrier Endurance due to broken lines in Bremerhaven on 13 March 2021.
What happened?
The car carrier Endurance was moored starboard side in Bremerhaven’s Verbindungshafen connecting port on 13 March 2021.
At about 0945, the mooring lines parted in offshore winds with gusts of up to 50 kts (10 Bft). The master went to the bridge at 0924 because of the prevailing wind conditions at the berth. At 0930, he requested tug assistance on VHF and instructed two of his deck officers to inspect the lines. When the lines failed, he issued instructions to drop the starboard anchor, start the main engine, and raise the lowered vehicle ramp. He activated the ship’s internal general alarm so as to implement emergency procedures, such as sounding the fuel and ballast tanks, inspections of the deck, and inspections of internal spaces. He also notified the Port Authority, inter alia.
Before the arrival of the tugs requested to provide assistance, the Endurance had drifted crosswind in a northeasterly direction to the opposite side of the Verbindungshafen connecting port toward the Lloyd Werft dockyard. Before the main engine was running, the first two tugs arrived about eight minutes after the line failures. These tugs could not prevent the allision with Dock III and two pontoons. At 0953, the RT Innovation was ready to push from the port side aft. The anchor was weighed. At 1000, the RT Emotion’s towline was made fast at the bow. At 1014, the VB Hunte assisted amidships from the port side. A pilot arrived on board at 1015.
The Endurance was initially shifted to the original berth with the assistance of three tugs and a pilot. The crew of the Endurance took replacement ropes on deck. The berthing manoeuvre was aborted at around 1034 after several attempts due to the strong southwesterly wind. With a fourth tug and another pilot, the Endurance was shifted to the Kaiserhafen III dock at 1130, which “ given the prevailing weather“ offered a more sheltered berth. The ENDURANCE was made fast there nearly four hours after the line failure at 1324. The line failure resulted in material damage to the ship, the berth, and the dockyard. However, nobody was injured and the water was not polluted.
Summary
This investigation was concluded with a summary report, as the accident involving the Endurance was mainly due to the worn lines and the replacement was not made in good time due to the lack of a suitable SMS. With effect from 1 January 2024, new internationally binding guidelines for the inspection and maintenance of mooring equipment, including lines, came into force. In particular, the vessel operator is now required to introduce a procedure for mooring operations, as well as the inspection and maintenance of mooring equipment, including mooring lines. A maintenance procedure must be implemented on ships so that worn lines are identified in good time before they fail. Maintenance must be carried out and documented on board. Advice on the required visual inspections has been published with the guidelines. Accordingly, further safety recommendations to the vessel operator are not required. Regarding the Port’s involvement “ voluntarily communicating with vessels, e.g. recommendations on safe mooring or offering alternative berths if necessary “ this was of lesser importance in the Endurance case, as the master was aware of the weather forecast and had already taken appropriate action by requesting tug assistance in response.
Read the full report: BSU 'Endurance' Report