Hoegh Osaka aground on Bramble Bank

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Even so, you have to say, hats off to all involved. Tough call.

Absolutely but you would hope and expect that just this kind of scenario would have been simulated in emergency planning by the authorities and the pilots trained accordingly to deal with it. Thats probably why the pilot conducted himself with such apparent calmness during the emergency. So not only hats off to the pilot and skipper but also to the planners who in all likelihood predicted just such a scenario and planned for it. Lets hope they've also planned for how a ship of this size can be recovered following just such an incident!

 

[sailorman]

I have agree with you on this one, BUT she's not dried out. I would guess she's still about 3 metres at low water. IF they can remove enough cargo and relocate minimal ballast to port side over the next couple of weeks, she may just float, especially if they can assist the ebb tides to take some of the sand/mud out down towards Yarmouth or even get one of the 'Split' dredgers in close enough.

As for now, no chance, those big westerly winds will only pin her down.:ambivalence:

How do you propose those vehicles can be moved with a 50 deg list, if not lashed down as stated below they will be in a heap on the stbd side

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

How do you propose those vehicles can be moved with a 50 deg list, if not lashed down as stated below they will be in a heap on the stbd side

Once the ship is stabilised with inflatable bags or cranes, I guess the salvors will be able to fix winches and ropes to the inside of the port side of the hull and literally pull any vehicles back to their original position where they can be securely lashed down. Either that or the salvors could cut temporary holes in the starboard side of the hull through which some or all of the cars could lifted by a crane. Whatever method is chosen, I guess that stabilising the cargo could take a very long time. I can't see that the ship can be moved until the cargo is fully stabilised because any uncontrolled movement of the cargo during the salvage operation could be disastrous. I'm no expert but I guess we're talking weeks and months rather than days to move the ship. This one is going to run and run

 

[Triassic]

Picked up elsewhere:-

"...the vessel never suffered any loss of propulsion or steerage nor was it any kind of pilot or navigational error. Early indications are that poor ballast/bunker tank management could be to blame. A large amount of bunker fuel was allowed to drain from the port side over to starboard at the moment the vessel was negotiating the turn to port around the west bramble cardinal bouy. This, combined with slack ballast tanks caused the vessel to take on a very pronounced list to starboard.
...she had made a full 180 degree turn round to port and was listing at approx 50 degrees. The pilot deliberately beached the car carrier in an effort to avoid a potential capsize situation.
...it's important to stress how calm and collected the pilot remained throughout the whole incident. He was the last person to be airlifted off the stricken vessel and deserves the utmost respect for his behaviour".

I'm no expert and I don't have local knowledge, but something about that just doesn't seem to ring right with me. If whilst making a scheduled turn to port the vessel starts to list excessively to starboard the natural reaction is to turn to starboard to try and recover it, unless the vessel is now over so far that you lose steerage in which case the momentum will continue to "skid" the vessel round to port (a classic broach for the sailors amongst us...).

I understand the channel is to exit Southampton leaving the bank to port before making the port turn to head East up the Solent, and this is a turn just past 90 degrees. If during this turn (or even before if some reports are to be believed) the vessel starts to list to starboard why did't they turn to starboard where there is plenty of deep water and try and recover the situation? Instead it seems the vessel made a complete 180 turn to port despite the helm appearing to be hard to starboard (and I appreciate the rudder may have "fell" over post incident) which suggests to me that actually they were trying to turn to starboard but due to the heel they had lost control and it was fate, not design, that put them where they were.

As a matter of interest which way was the tide running at the time?

I'm not trying to be an "expert" because I am far from it, but just questioning what is being said.

 

[VicS]

I'm no expert ........................................................ just questioning what is being said.

Read the statement put out by the owners and posted on Scuttlebutt. It answers some of the points you raise

Höegh Osaka - update
Ingar Skiaker, CEO of Höegh Autoliners said today (Sunday 4 January 2015):

“Our vessel Höegh Osaka is currently grounded at Bramble Bank in the Solent outside the port of
Southampton. All crew plus one pilot, in total 25 people were evacuated from the vessel and all are
safe and accounted for.

Two crew members were taken to the hospital with minor injuries. The crew is currently being
offered all possible support and assistance to help them cope with the ordeal they have been
through.

We would like to thank everyone who has been involved in this challenging rescue operation, with a
special thanks to the Maritime & Coastguard Agency, the RNLI, DNV and Southampton’s Port
Authorities.

Höegh Autoliners key concern has been for the crew and we are thankful to everyone that they are
all safely ashore.

Our vessel developed a severe list shortly after she left port and the pilot and the master took the
decision to save the vessel and its crew by grounding her on the bank. This showed great skill and
seamanship on behalf of our crew when faced with such challenging circumstances.

At this stage it is too early to speculate on the cause of the list but we are starting an immediate
investigation.

Right now we have serious work ahead of us in order to free the vessel from the Bramble Bank
without disrupting the flow of traffic in and out of the Port of Southampton. An investigation is
ongoing as to what occurred last night and that is being conducted by the MAIB.

Our chief concern now is to ensure there is no environmental damage from this incident. There is no
oil spill reported at this point however we understand that the UK authorities have brought their
spill response to a state of active readiness.

The vessel is currently considered stable, and we are closely working with our appointed salvors
Svitzer, who in turn, are working alongside Hugh Shaw, the Secretary of State’s Representative in
Maritime Salvage and Intervention, as well as the Port of Southampton, to prepare for a safe and
successful salvage of the vessel with minimal disruption to the port and it environment.”

 

[mjf]

its interesting you too spotted the rudder to stbd.

Before anyone mentioned the grounding being intentional, it seemed to me that once they had turned on the outside of w.bramble a course would have been ordered to the helm (as opposed to a degree of helm to apply) and the command/pilot failed to see that the ship was going inside the next green buoy and when they did the obvious helm order would be hard to stbd and get some way off pronto.

When interviewed the VTS/Port Authority bloke made no mention of the grounging being intentional and its odd because today they claim the pilot was last to depart and he would have been in VTS contact throughout via VHF or mobile.

on the other hand these guys do lean out when rounding that buoy and if ballast v/v's had not been closed or bunkers / cargo shifted then a dangerous angle of heel would be set quickly and possible capsize.
The report will make a good read -but someone made cock-up either on the bridge or cargo/ballast

 

[Triassic]

In answer to Vics

No it doesn't. That is what they have said, I am questioning if what they said happened actually happened.

If the list developed as they were coming out of port and at that time they made the decision that the safest thing to do is to put the starboard side of the vessel on a sand bank, then why didn't they just make a minor turn to port and approach Bramble bank from the north, instead of going past and making a 180 turn to port which is only going to aggravate the list? If the list developed after they had committed past the bank (so it was on their port quarter), then again the safest option would have been to make the 180 turn to starboard and approached the back from the west.

I'm not trying to start a conspiracy theory here, I'm just not accepting the first explanation I am given without understanding how it came about.

 

[mjf]

The owners say the list occurred shortly after departure implying it was ongoing prior to the Thorn channel - I'm sure VTS would have been advised early if the angle of dangle was in process before the turn

 

[alant]

Can you imagine the consequences of that - one of our main container ports, car import-exports ports, oil refinery and cruise centre all closed?

When carrying out a risk assessment in case of terrorist attack, one of Southampton Pilots, proposed a scenario, where a RIB loaded with explosives came out of the Beaulieu River area & laid alongside a large liner in this channel, blowing a hole & sinking it, blocking the port.
Little loss of life, but commercial disaster for months, crippling the port.

 

[mjf]

In answer to Vics
I'm with you here - it took too long to come out with todays communications - delighted no injury nor pollution and looking at the wind forecast the high side will face the music and with Springs coming that will if anything shift the vessel further up the bank

 

[jonjo]

I'm no expert and I don't have local knowledge, but something about that just doesn't seem to ring right with me. If whilst making a scheduled turn to port the vessel starts to list excessively to starboard the natural reaction is to turn to starboard to try and recover it, unless the vessel is now over so far that you lose steerage in which case the momentum will continue to "skid" the vessel round to port (a classic broach for the sailors amongst us...).

I understand the channel is to exit Southampton leaving the bank to port before making the port turn to head East up the Solent, and this is a turn just past 90 degrees. If during this turn (or even before if some reports are to be believed) the vessel starts to list to starboard why did't they turn to starboard where there is plenty of deep water and try and recover the situation? Instead it seems the vessel made a complete 180 turn to port despite the helm appearing to be hard to starboard (and I appreciate the rudder may have "fell" over post incident) which suggests to me that actually they were trying to turn to starboard but due to the heel they had lost control and it was fate, not design, that put them where they were.

I empathise with some of your confusion and perhaps a hint of scepticism.

Re. your first point it would be interesting to hear from a big ship pro but I am guessing there is not much of a margin for considering a starboard counter turn given the close proximity of the Isle of Wight and Cowes.

The turn does look unusually sharp on the AIS tracks and I am wondering if the deliberate beaching on the Brambles is a cover story to mask prior bad decisions. My hunch is that the sharp swerve into the Brambles was an uncontrolled event caused by a runaway listing to starboard. The inquiry will no doubt focus on why the Captain and Pilot did not abandon the routine exit plan from the Solent given the unexplained and early list perhaps 30 minutes earlier.

 

[jonjo]

When carrying out a risk assessment in case of terrorist attack, one of Southampton Pilots, proposed a scenario, where a RIB loaded with explosives came out of the Beaulieu River area & laid alongside a large liner in this channel, blowing a hole & sinking it, blocking the port.
Little loss of life, but commercial disaster for months, crippling the port.

This infomercial was bought to you by the Friends of ISIS and is an extract from the Open Terrorist University level-2 course material. Comprehension of this post counts as 3 credits towards your Batchelor of Terrorism dishonours degree.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

My hunch is that the sharp swerve into the Brambles was an uncontrolled event caused by a runaway listing to starboard. The inquiry will no doubt focus on why the Captain and Pilot did not abandon the routine exit plan from the Solent given the unexplained and early list perhaps 30 minutes earlier.

Except that there are stories about tugs pushing the ship on to the Bramble Bank. Maybe the pilot and/or skipper had the rudder hard over to starboard to avoid a capsize to starboard whilst tugs were pushing the ship on to the Bramble Bank? Either way it is far better that the ship and its contents and, in particular, it's fuel sits above the water on the Bramble Bank rather than submerged on it's side in the main channel

 

[colhel]

I wonder if gravity has caused the rudder to be at Starboard position.

 

[alant]

This infomercial was bought to you by the Friends of ISIS and is an extract from the Open Terrorist University level-2 course material. Comprehension of this post counts as 3 credits towards your Batchelor of Terrorism dishonours degree.

By the time they had done zero to DS course, someone would have sussed them!

 

[mlines]

Except that there are stories about tugs pushing the ship on to the Bramble Bank. Maybe the pilot and/or skipper had the rudder hard over to starboard to avoid a capsize to starboard whilst tugs were pushing the ship on to the Bramble Bank? Either way it is far better that the ship and its contents and, in particular, it's fuel sits above the water on the Bramble Bank rather than submerged on it's side in the main channel

The tugs were there later and I interpret the "pushing the ship onto Bramble Bank" as a holding exercise to stop it drifting off again. There would have been no steering at this point as it was stationary to all intents and purposes

 

[l'escargot]

I'm no expert and I don't have local knowledge, but something about that just doesn't seem to ring right with me. If whilst making a scheduled turn to port the vessel starts to list excessively to starboard the natural reaction is to turn to starboard to try and recover it, unless the vessel is now over so far that you lose steerage in which case the momentum will continue to "skid" the vessel round to port (a classic broach for the sailors amongst us...).

I understand the channel is to exit Southampton leaving the bank to port before making the port turn to head East up the Solent, and this is a turn just past 90 degrees. If during this turn (or even before if some reports are to be believed) the vessel starts to list to starboard why did't they turn to starboard where there is plenty of deep water and try and recover the situation? Instead it seems the vessel made a complete 180 turn to port despite the helm appearing to be hard to starboard (and I appreciate the rudder may have "fell" over post incident) which suggests to me that actually they were trying to turn to starboard but due to the heel they had lost control and it was fate, not design, that put them where they were.

As a matter of interest which way was the tide running at the time?

I'm not trying to be an "expert" because I am far from it, but just questioning what is being said.

Tide would've been heading west at that time. The idea would appear to have been to get out of the deep water as the ship was in danger of going over completely, I would guess that they considered the situation was beyond recovery, the Brambles achieved that and also kept the channel open. If she had gone down to the West of the precautionary area, the whole of the western Solent would have been blocked off and a salvage operation much more difficult.

 

[alant]

Tide would've been heading west at that time. The idea would appear to have been to get out of the deep water as the ship was in danger of going over completely, I would guess that they considered the situation was beyond recovery, the Brambles achieved that and also kept the channel open. If she had gone down to the West of the precautionary area, the whole of the western Solent would have been blocked off and a salvage operation much more difficult.

Not much traffic using the West Solent route.

 

[jonjo]

The tugs were there later and I interpret the "pushing the ship onto Bramble Bank" as a holding exercise to stop it drifting off again.

This is my interpretation. A detailed look at the AIS plot will clarify the matter, my working hunch is that initial rounding of Bramble West buoy to final grounding took less than 10 minutes and the tugs arrived a few hours later.

 

[fireball]

Not much traffic using the West Solent route.

No - but on Bramble bank you've got deep water close to the site of grounding - so easier access for any large vessels that are required during the salvage operation - eg to remove oils, lift or tug.