I read the account of the collision between the m/v “Sea Justice” and m/t “A Symphony” off the coast of China recently, and the text indicated that the m/t “A Symphony” was at anchor at the time. The text states that (quote) ’ the m/t “A Symphony” collided with the m/v “Sea Justice” ’ (end of quote) which in my opinion as a Master Mariner (Foreign Going) and retired shipmaster, has it the wrong way around as ships at anchor do not collide with ships moving freely around them as they cannot take avoiding action in a developing collision situation with passing traffic. I have served as an expert witness in Court for the prosecution for a similar case which occurred several years ago in the St. Lawrence Seaway, where a vessel passing through an anchorage at night collided with another vessel which was anchored within the designated area while displaying the appropriate signals. The total blame for the collision was assigned by the Judge to the moving vessel and the anchored vessel was exonerated from any blame, in fact was commended for attempting to mitigate the results of the imminent collision by using her propulsion to maneuver while the anchor was still down.
Posted a few days ago here: