When ‘Ever Forward’ pilot’s license was suspended after Chesapeake Bay grounding
Maryland’s Board of Pilots voted unanimously on Oct. 20, 2022 to summarily suspend the operating license of Capt. Steven Germac, the pilot on board the 1,096-ft container ship Ever Forward when it grounded north of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge on March 13, 2022; formal notice was sent Oct. 21. A U.S. Coast Guard investigation found the pilot placed/received numerous calls, texted, and drafted emails on a personal cellphone for roughly half of the two-hour transit, relied solely on a Portable Pilot Unit (and was watching a playback of a prior transit), and was composing an email in the minutes before the planned southbound turn—during which the vessel overran its waypoint and grounded despite bridge-team prompts about heading. Officials reported no injuries, damage to other vessels, or pollution, and Germac has not piloted a commercial vessel since the incident; under statute he may seek a hearing to contest the suspension.
The Taiwan-operated Ever Forward (carrying ~5,000 containers) grounded outside the channel, avoiding a traffic blockade like the Suez Canal’s Ever Given, but required extensive salvage. After two failed refloat attempts, responders dredged to ~43 ft around the hull and lightered exactly 500 containers to barges before multiple tugs freed the ship on April 17, 2022. The casualty sharpened industry scrutiny of bridge resource management and pilot distraction, underscoring expectations that pilots integrate shipboard navigation resources, maintain continuous situational awareness, and avoid nonessential personal-device use during critical maneuvers.
Anybody here with a pdf copy of USCG report can U pls post???