Contact made by ro-ro passenger ferry Isle of Mull with moored ferry and pier
Location: Oban Railway Pier, Oban Bay, Scotland.
Accident Investigation Report 13/2005
Read our marine accident investigation report, which includes what happened, actions taken and subsequent recommendations:
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Summary
Just after 1900, on 29 December 2004, the Caledonian MacBrayne ro-ro ferry, Isle of Mull, glanced off Lord of the Isles, which was moored alongside, and then made contact with Oban Railway Pier bow on, at an estimated speed of 4 knots. There were no passengers onboard and no injuries were sustained as a result of the impact. The bow visor and port side of the fo’c’sle were substantially damaged and the vessel was withdrawn from service for repairs.
Safety Issues
- the monitoring of the master’s actions and decisions by the OOW were not effective
- there was no bridge team briefing by the master to inform the team of his intentions
- the dimmer controls in the bridge did not enable optimal viewing of critical gauges and switches when operating during the hours of darkness
- routine and over-familiarity possibly contributed to a decline in the standard of bridge procedures and awareness of potential emergencies
Recommendations
Caledonian MacBrayne has taken extensive action following its own and our investigations to address the safety issues that have been identified, and consequently no additional recommendations are made in this report.
This report was published in July 2005.