SAFETY4SEA Focus - Q1 2018

Q1 2018 I issue 01 I SAFETY 4SEA 15 safety4sea.com ARTICLE Most of watchkeepers just press the acknowledge button without seeing or analyzing the cause of the alarm and bet the safety of the vessel, crew, cargo and environment to luck. As most cases revealed the alarms indicated the upcoming accident but no one reacted. ► Inadequate watchkeeping Some other cases indicate that collisions have been occurred because OOW monitored EC- DIS display and vessels, without AIS indication were not seen. No one was looking out of the bridge glasses. Binoculars seem to be not useful anymore to navigators. The best way to avoid all the above is to integrate the ECDIS system into navigational mentality. Watchkee- pers should stop navigate through the ECDIS screen as playing a video game and act as they worked with paper charts. Frequent position verification by other means is a must during watch. Radar consulta- tion is of most importance. There- fore, a good lookout keeping (by both OOW and lookout) will solve most of the problems. It is impor- tant to remember that the eye (in cases of nearby vessels navigation) is the critical instrument for collision avoidance. ECDIS mindset is to be establi- shed by all - Mariners, Companies, organizations and States - as the best tool to absorb the problems of this new technology implementation in shipping. The following cases are some examples of already investigat- ed accidents which concluded to be ECDIS related. 1. CFL Performer (MAIB 2008) 2. CSL Thames (MAIB, 2012) 3. Ovit (MAIB, 2014) 4. Commodore Clipper (MAIB, 2015) 5. MV Muros (MAIB, 2017) Conclusions to all the above cases are almost the same. There was no technical problem with ECDIS system; it worked perfectly during all cases. All related incidents were caused by inadequate use of ECDIS or inadequate performance of crew on the bridge. Therefore, the definition as ECDIS assisted accidents is not quite accurate. Explore more at: https://goo.gl/kzZVDy Explore more at events.safety4sea.com Enhance your SAFETY 4SEA Experience! Achieve the highest level of Safety, Smart and Green shipping awareness attending SAFETY 4SEA , SMART 4SEA & GREEN 4SEA Conferences held annually in Athens, accompanied by three sets of awards. • 8 categories per award set • Οpen nominations & online voting Annual SMART 4SEA Conference Annual GREEN 4SEA Conference Annual SAFETY 4SEA Conference • Every January in Athens • 400 + Delegates/ 24 Speakers • Every April in Athens • 600 + Delegates/ 24 Speakers • Every October in Athens • 600 + Delegates / 24 Speakers • Largest shipping safety conference globally