Grounding of container vessel Perth
Location: Entering Izmir Bay, Turkey.
Completed PE Summary: Perth
A short summary of the accident and action taken:
| Merchant Vessel/Accident Details | |
|---|---|
| Vessel Name | Perth |
| Registered Owner/Manager | All Ocean Charters 2 Limited, London |
| Port of Registry | London |
| Flag | UK |
| Type | Container vessel |
| Built | 1999 |
| Classification Society | Lloyd’s Register |
| Construction | Steel |
| Length Overall | 217.1m |
| Gross Tonnage | 24836 |
| Date/Time | 08/11/2006, 1400 |
| Location of Incident | Coastal waters at Izmir, Turkey |
| Incident Type | Grounding |
| Persons Onboard | 22 |
| Injuries/Fatalities | None |
| Damage/Pollution | None |
Synopsis
In daylight and in good weather conditions, the container vessel Perth grounded whilst entering Izmir Bay, Turkey. The master had conduct of the vessel; the Officer of the Watch (OOW) was plotting the vessel’s position using GPS only, at the chart table. An AB was on the wheel.
The vessel had just steadied on a new course when the OOW plotted the position, which showed the vessel had in fact altered course earlier than planned and was heading for shallow water. The master ordered the wheel hard over and the vessel had just started to swing when it grounded on a bottom of soft mud.
Fortunately, the weather conditions remained favourable throughout the next 24 hours, before the vessel was refloated using salvage tugs. The vessel was fully surveyed and was found to be undamaged and able to continue, unconditionally, in service.
Action taken
The Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents has written to the ship’s managers strongly advising that they consider the early installation of a simplified voyage data recorder, to ensure that equipment such as ECDIS is maintained in a fully operational condition and ensure that the lessons learnt from this accident are fully promulgated to the bridge teams on all their vessels.