Shipping must improve navigation safety



Ship operators are not doing enough to prevent ships from grounding or colliding due to errors in navigation. Shipping companies must do more to ensure bridge teams follow guidelines and use electronic navigation devices effectively to prevent accidents.
Recent accident reports have highlighted that too many mistakes are occurring, resulting in damaged ships and marine environments.
Over the years, there have been too many examples of bridge teams demonstrating that they are not using electronic navigation equipment effectively.
The latest examples come courtesy of the UK government’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch and its report into the grounding of bulk carrier Muros off the Norfolk coast and a CMA CGM container ship in Southampton.
MAIB wrote that the crew on Muros ignored ECDIS safeguards and overlooked user guidelines from the manufacturers.
They set an unsafe passage plan on ECDIS and followed it into a sandbank in December 2016.
In August 2016, CMA CGM Vasco de Gama struck a sandbank in Southampton, despite the presence of two pilots on board, because of the ineffective use of ECDIS, pilot portable devices and poor communications.
Misuse of ECDIS and poor navigation safety highlighted in accident reports must be just the tip of an iceberg in terms of whole shipping fleets.
Shipping companies must improve their navigational safety records, double check that ECDIS is setup properly and constantly updated. They should ensure bridge teams know how to use the equipment properly to set safe voyage plans and execute them. Officers must be taught to not ignore safety alarms and navigate their ships safely to prevent more accidents.

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