Contact made by ro-ro passenger ferry Sirena Seaways with berth
Locations: Harwich International Port, England.
Accident Investigation Report 6/2014
Investigation report into marine accident including what happened, safety lessons and recommendations made:
(798.84 kb)
Summary
On 22 June 2013, the ferry Sirena Seaways made heavy contact with berth 3 at Harwich International Port. The impact caused considerable damage to the fore-end of the vessel, including penetrations below the waterline. The linkspan at berth 3 collapsed into the water; the supporting structures were severely damaged and were no longer useable. Sirena Seaways was subsequently moved to another berth to disembark the passengers and vehicles.
No defects were found with the propulsion control systems.
Safety lessons
- it was considered most likely that the button to activate the back-up control system for the starboard propulsion system was inadvertently pressed during the early stages of the entry into the port.
Recommendations
Recommendations have been made to the vessel’s owner to review the need for regular bridge and crew resource management training (2014/106); and, consider methods for warning passengers and minimising the risk of injury in a similar emergency (2014/107).
Published: 31 January 2014