Principle findings and form of casualty investigation:
1. The look-out was instructed to conduct a safety patrol around the vessel. This meant that the OOW was alone on the bridge, notwithstanding the navigation in close proximity of small islands and the mainland. Whilst the look-out is to maintain a proper look-out, inter alia, for the purpose of fully appraising the situation and navigational risks, he was not able to give full attention to look-out duties as the patrol interfered with his tasks.
2. After taking over the watch, the OOW sat on one of the chairs in the wheelhouse and soon fell asleep.
3. The last course alteration was carried out as planned in the previous watch. At no point in time were any course alterations made during the watch, with the result that the next waypoint was missed altogether, with the ship maintaining her course and speed.
4. There is no available evidence to indicate whether any alarms sounded when the ship’s course was not altered at the designated waypoint or when the ship was in close proximity of the shoreline. It is established, however, that the OOW was woken up from his sleep by the violent vibrations when the ship ran aground.
5. The ship did not sustain any failure in her navigation, steering, or propulsion equipment prior to the grounding. In fact, the last course alteration in the previous watch was to a new heading of 308 degrees, whilst the ship’s heading just before the grounding was 310 degrees.
6. The accident happened at a time where the circadian limit is at its lowest although there is no evidence to confirm that fatigue was a contributing factor. |