Close-quarters situation between liquid petroleum gas tanker Sigas Centurion and container vessel Jeppesen Maersk
Location: MPC Buoy in the Dover Straits off the south east coast of England.
Completed PE Summary: Sigas Centurion/Jappesen Maersk
| Merchant Vessel 1/Accident Details | |
|---|---|
| Vessel Name | Sigas Centurion |
| Registered Owner/Manager | Eitzen Group |
| Port of Registry | Singapore |
| Flag | Singapore |
| Type | LPG Tanker |
| Built | 1984 |
| Classification Society | Lloyds Register |
| Construction | Steel |
| Length Overall | 81.11m |
| Gross Tonnage | 2169 |
| Date/Time | 14/2/2007, 0420 (UTC) |
| Location of Incident | Dover Strait TSS - MPC Buoy |
| Incident Type | Close quarters |
| Persons Onboard | 14 |
| Injuries/Fatalities | None |
| Damage/Pollution | None |
| Merchant Vessel 2/Accident Details | |
|---|---|
| Vessel Name | Jappesen Maersk |
| Registered Owner/Manager | Moller AP |
| Port of Registry | Kolding |
| Flag | Denmark |
| Type | Container Ship |
| Built | 2001 |
| Classification Society | Lloyds Register |
| Construction | Steel |
| Length Overall | 216.3m |
| Gross Tonnage | 30,166 |
| Date/Time | 14/2/2007, 0420 (UTC) |
| Location of Incident | Dover Strait TSS - MPC Buoy |
| Persons Onboard | 14 |
| Injuries/Fatalities | None |
| Damage/Pollution | None |
Synopsis
At 0420 UTC in the Dover Strait TSS near the MPC Buoy the NE bound LPG Tanker Sigas Centurion and the SW bound container ship Jeppesen Maersk were involved in a near collision.
When Sigas Centurion altered course to cross the SW bound lane she was on a collision course with Jeppesen Maersk. Sigas Centurion only became aware of a developing situation when CNIS called to advise of the danger. The collision was avoided by both vessels taking last minute action
The weather at the time was fair with good visibility.
Action taken
The Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents has written to :-
The owners of the LPG tanker strongly advising that they should take appropriate action to strengthen bridge team procedures to, as far as possible, ensure that:
-
In areas where high traffic density may be reasonably be expected the presence of the master on the bridge should be standard procedure.
-
Bridge teams understand the dangers of using VHF to decide actions in a collision situation.
-
Company and master’s standing orders include guidance on minimum C.P.A’s that should be stringently adhered to;
-
Internal root cause investigations into this type incident should be conducted by the Company to ensure the underlying lessons are learnt from an incident like this one.
The owner of the container vessel to advise him of the issues arising from the incident and to praise the actions of their vessel’s bridge team in avoiding a collision.