A software flaw, followed by the captain’s failure to use
back-up controls, led to the grounding of the Commodore (IMO 9842243) in
New York City on June 5th 2021, the National Transportation Safety
Board (NTSB) has found.
The report noted that the 150ft-catamaran ferry Commodore
was sailing northbound on the East River when it lost primary steering and
speed control to both of its port hull water jets. As a result, it grounded.
There was only one minor injury reported among the seven crewmembers and 107
passengers on board. However, the grounding, which made headline New York news,
resulted in $2.5m in damage to the vessel.
The ferry provides a much-used commuter service between
Manhattan and New Jersey. It was operating its second trip of the day to East
35th Street NYC Ferry Terminal from Sandy Hook, New Jersey. After passing under
the Brooklyn Bridge an alarm went off, indicating a control failure for the port
water jets. The captain attempted several times to reconnect the port jets via
the primary control system, but failed.
The captain first attempted to slow the vessel, then he
attempted to go full astern, but only the engines and water jets in the starboard
hull responded. This resulted in the ferry turning to starboard and slowing. It
crossed to the east side of the river and entered the relatively narrow opening
to Bushwick Inlet. Less than two minutes after the alarm, the vessel grounded.
The port hull was breached after contact with submerged
pilings on the north shoreline of the Bushwick Inlet and seawater quickly
entered the port engine room.
The NTSB found that the captain had not tried to engage
the back-up control, which could have been used to operate the vessel following
the loss of primary control. The NTSB said that more effective company training
procedures for loss of propulsion or steering control would have included
recognizing a control failure and then responding by using the back-up control
or other alternatives.
Following the grounding, a service engineer determined
the primary control system software was generating an unprecedented number of
error messages, which caused the SD card for the display screen controlling the
port water jets and engines to fail. This failure resulted in the loss of the
display monitor and the loss of primary propulsion and steering control for the
water jets and main engines in the port hull. A month after the grounding, the
manufacturer issued a service letter to its customers mandating a software
update that would correct the issue that caused the problem on the Commodore.
The NTSB said the probable cause of the grounding was the
loss of the primary control system for the catamaran’s port water jets and
propulsion engines due to a flaw in the system manufacturer’s software causing
a memory card failure. Contributing to the casualty was the company’s lack of
clear safety management system procedures for control system failure and
ineffective oversight of crew training on loss of propulsion and steering
control, resulting in the captain not identifying the nature of the loss of
control and either engaging back-up control or using emergency engine shutdowns
to stop the vessel.
“The loss of propulsion and steering control while
transiting in channels or manoeuvring near immediate hazards (grounding,
traffic, objects), when response time is critical, demands crewmembers act
quickly to mitigate potential casualties,” the report said. “Effective company
training on the loss of propulsion and steering controls builds crew confidence
and proficiency and improves a crew’s ability to respond during an actual
emergency. Training should include requirements for the practical demonstration
of loss of control procedures and use of emergency back-up systems. Vessel
owners and operators should continuously evaluate training programs to ensure
effectiveness of drills and implement changes to improve safety management
system procedures”, the NTSB said.
2018-built, USA-flagged, 726 gt Commodore is owned by
Seastreak LLC care of manager Seastreak America Inc of Highlands, NJ, USA. It
is entered with Steamship Mutual (Americas Syndicate) on behalf of Seastreak
LLC.
