Let this be a lesson to all yea who fail to look out of the windows!

Maritime News Marine Incidents
1

Just to remind all masters and mates the consequences to keep one’s face in a bloody computer while one should be actually “ON WATCH”!

[B][U]How the Pathfinder lost its way[/U][/B]

Bruce Buls

June 19, 2012

Irony #1: A tug named Pathfinder sets a course directly towards a well-known and clearly marked rock pile in Alaska’s Prince William Sound.

Irony #2: The tug is part of a fleet of escort and response vessels under contract to Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. to ensure the safe transit of tankers to and from its crude oil terminal in Valdez, Alaska.

Irony #3: The tug runs aground at full speed on Bligh Reef, the same reef that snagged the Exxon Valdez and set in motion changes to the oil transportation industry that included escort and response tugs in Prince William Sound.

Irony #4: Three weeks prior to the Dec. 23, 2009, grounding, which released some 6,410 gals. of diesel fuel into the surrounding waters, the Pathfinder received an award for environmental excellence at a Chamber of Shipping of America ceremony for 32 years of service without an incident.

Last Friday, the former captain of the Pathfinder, Ronald Monsen, was sentenced in federal court to 36 months of probation with the first six months to be spent in home confinement. Monsen was also fined $15,000 and will be required to do 50 hours of community service. Monsen had previously pleaded guilty to violations of the federal Clean Water Act.

The Justice Department press release from acting U.S. Attorney Kevin Feldis in Anchorage, Alaska, reveals what happened:

“After scouting for ice, Capt. Monsen kept the Pathfinder in Prince William Sound until it was time to communicate his ice report at 6:00 p.m., expecting that he would then be released from scout duty and be allowed to return to Valdez harbor. While waiting until 6:00 p.m., Monsen altered the autopilot course back to Valdez by manually bypassing or skipping two way points on the pre-programmed Global Positioning System (GPS) course that would safely guide the Pathfinder ’s travel out of Prince William Sound and back to Valdez harbor.

“At 6:00 p.m., the second mate called in the ice report and the tug was released from ice duty. Monsen then reached over the second mate, placed both engines full speed ahead, and engaged the autopilot to steer the vessel directly to the Rocky Point waypoint. Monsen did not chart his position, or attempt to determine his exact location via GPS or any other method. As a result, when Monsen engaged this course, he did not know the location of the Pathfinder , was unaware that the vessel was 1.5 miles due south of Bligh Reef, and did not recognize that he had just set a course that was taking the Pathfinder directly into the reef.”

After hitting the throttles, Monsen turned to the bridge computer, which required facing aft, and “checked his e-mail and schedules and played computer games.” The vessel was left on autopilot “and no one was at the controls,” said Feldis.

Hello Bligh Reef. Goodbye job, career, reputation, six months of freedom and $15,000.

The Pathfinder was eventually towed back to Seattle, where it remains in “layup status.”

I wonder what happened to the award plaque?

PATHFINDER is for sale now but needs millions to put her right! Pity, that was a darned good tug for Crowley but now it’s just junk!

.

2

SEA SWIFT class, good boat. Man, what a way to end a career. . . . .Maybe he can go to Schuyler and teach?

3

Stupid is as stupid does…I wonder how many times over the years he has done this same sort of thing but always lucked out.

4

Not making any excuses for Captain or Second mate, but in hindsight some kind of ECDIS or electronic chart system might have been nice to have in that wheelhouse.

And it was a shame, that was a nice boat.

5

[QUOTE=50thState;78945]Not making any excuses for Captain or Second mate, but in hindsight some kind of ECDIS or electronic chart system might have been nice to have in that wheelhouse.

And it was a shame, that was a nice boat.[/QUOTE]

It is becoming far too common to rely on just another screen to do all the work for us. One must still use all the tools available including looking in an actual radar and at a depth sounder from time to time, Believing that the all knowing digital chart on the screen will ensure we are not going to tread into danger is a foolish place to go. Far too man young mates of today just allow it to stand the watch for them. Yes, a valuable tool but only one and never one to supplant keeping a visual watch constantly in close pilotage waters.

6

[QUOTE=50thState;78945]Not making any excuses for Captain or Second mate, but in hindsight some kind of ECDIS or electronic chart system might have been nice to have in that wheelhouse[/QUOTE]

Sure, because without an ECDIS there was clearly absolutely no effing way to know where you were.

WTF? Holy crap. Really?!? Glad you sail in the 50th State and I sail in the 49th.

7

Well put two minutes and a little X on the chart before his ill fated trip maybe he’d have a boat still.

8

What was VTS doing while this all went down??

9

I remember back when back in 94 or so when my company was just starting to put ECDIS onboard. I was working over on one of our rigs that ran the Delaware River doing Lightering. After watch I walked up to the Wheel House for a visit with the Mate, he showed my the “New” system and it looked great. We were inbound on the Delaware but the display showed us North Bound on I-95, which paralleled the river. They fixed the glitch but I always remember that whenever anyone talked about how great and accurate they were.

In the past I have seen Mates running in near zero visibility with there eyes going from the Radar to the GPS Screen. People now a days depend way too much on Electronics to do their job. This includes Engineers that think just because everything looks good on the Automation Panel all is good.

10

[QUOTE=Tugs;78967]
In the past I have seen Mates running in near zero visibility with there eyes going from the Radar to the GPS Screen. People now a days depend way too much on Electronics to do their job. This includes Engineers that think just because everything looks good on the Automation Panel all is good.[/QUOTE]

In restricted visibility it can be a full time job just keeping up with all the electronics, to their full potential. It is far better to have a Wheelsman in the pilot house, even with auto pilot they are another pair of eyes and ears while the mate does their job.

As a wheelsman, I have had to wake the mate up(sleeping in the captains chair) to tell him we missed the turn, inform the mate that we are dragging anchor(he then spent a few minutes with the electronics to confirm that yes, we are 90 degrees to the wind and making 3 knots) among other incidents.

“Lookouts” sitting by the windlass in a heated shack made of blankets reading a book? Mopping hallways? We are allowing reduced manning to reduce safety.

16 years ago the crew was discussing the most expensive armrest ever to be put in a pilot house, and the general consensus was “Those who live by the box, die by the box”.

11

[QUOTE=Capt. Fran;78958]Sure, because without an ECDIS there was clearly absolutely no effing way to know where you were.

WTF? Holy crap. Really?!? Glad you sail in the 50th State and I sail in the 49th.[/QUOTE]

Maybe you missed the whole “Not making any excuses” part of my post. Clearly there was no excuse for what happened, but to pretend that ECDIS isn’t a valuable tool is foolish. I understand that since the beginning of time people navigated just fine without them, but is there a reason all new wheelhouses have some form of electronic navigation? Every pilot we’ve boarded recently has brought his own laptop or tablet with nav software loaded on it. Maybe all those pilots are idiots too, next time I’ll tell them, “I heard on gCaptain that those things are more trouble than they are worth, just use the chart.” I will try it and let you know how it goes.

And just fyi, watch out, cause my incompetent ass does sail in the 49th state and all I do is sit there with my face 6 inches from my ecdis screen for twelve hours a day so steer well clear!!!

12

The incident occured Dec 23? Can you say “Holiday Throttles?” It’s not the first time there’s been an incident or fatality just before a holiday or crew-change day. There’s the lesson learned.

13

[QUOTE=50thState;78945]Not making any excuses for Captain or Second mate, but in hindsight some kind of ECDIS or electronic chart system might have been nice to have in that wheelhouse.

And it was a shame, that was a nice boat.[/QUOTE]

I agree. I have the same system, a GPS into which waypoints can be entered and be displayed on the radar and a paper chart. In some ways it’s the worse of both worlds. A line appears on the radar screen from “own ship’s” position to the waypoint. The line that is displayed is not the planned track. If the vessel leaves the track or skips waypoints as was evidently the case here, then it’s possible that this line to be mistaken for the track. If there are hazards between the ship and the waypoint the ship could be at risk.

Obviously this is boneheaded move and can be avoided by good seamanship and proper watch standing but systems that reduce errors are better then ones have traps for the careless or lazy.

K.C.

14

[QUOTE=c.captain;78946]It is becoming far too common to rely on just another screen to do all the work for us. One must still use all the tools available including looking in an actual radar and at a depth sounder from time to time, Believing that the all knowing digital chart on the screen will ensure we are not going to tread into danger is a foolish place to go. Far too man young mates of today just allow it to stand the watch for them. Yes, a valuable tool but only one and never one to supplant keeping a visual watch constantly in close pilotage waters.[/QUOTE]

Yes, of course. Reducing risk requires:

  1. Good seamanship
  2. Good procedures
  3. Good tools.

Arguing that better tools can reduce risk is a solid argument. No experienced mariner is going to argue that tools or procedures are a suitable substitute for good seamanship.

Ships equipped with ECDIS run aground 30% less often then non-equipped ships. I don’t know what the results are for giving experienced captains lectures on good seamanship are but my guess is that it is about zero.

K.C.

15

Monsen should have been a weatherman…they never look out the window either.

Nemo