Grounding of container vessel CP Valour
Location: Baia da Praia do Norte, Faial, Azores.
Accident Investigation Report 22/2006
Read our marine accident investigation report, which includes what happened, actions taken, and recommendations:
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Summary
The 15,145gt Bermuda registered container vessel CP Valour, grounded in a bay off the NW coast of the island of Faial, Azores, on 9 December 2005. The next day, in worsening weather conditions, the vessel’s hull began to fracture, eventually causing substantial pollution to the coast of Faial, and to the islands of Pico and Sāo Jorge. The subsequent salvage operation was unsuccessful and she was declared a constructive total loss about 3 weeks later.
Safety Issues
- the management of the bridge team was poor, but the problem was compounded by the second officer showing little or no initiative in supporting the master
- the master did not delegate sufficient monitoring tasks to the second officer, by the time the vessel grounded, he had become overloaded
- both the master and second officer had completed non-mandatory bridge team training courses, however few of the lessons learned had been put into practice on the bridge of CP Valour on the day of the accident
Recommendations
A recommendation has been addressed to the ship managers, and the lessons to be learned from the accident will be widely circulated to ships, shipowners and managers.
This report was published on 17 August 2006.