Lessons from the wreck of the Torrey Canyon

[SimonFa]

Tim Harford has a good post up about what we can all learn from the Torrey Canyon disaster, and not just at sea:

On Saturday March 18 1967, around half past six in the morning, the first officer of the Torrey Canyon realised that his vessel was in the wrong place. The 300-metre ship was hurrying north past the Scilly Isles, 22 miles off the tip of Cornwall in the south west of England, with more than 119,000 tonnes of crude oil. The aim was to pass west of the islands, but the ship was further east than expected.

The officer changed course, but when the sleep-deprived captain Pastrengo Rugiati, was awoken, he countermanded the order. A two-hour detour might mean days of waiting for the right tides, so Capt Rugiati decided instead to carry on through the treacherous channel between the Scilly Isles and the mainland.

Most serious accidents have multiple causes. A series of mistakes or pieces of bad luck line up to allow disaster. The Torrey Canyon was hampered by an unforgiving schedule, barely adequate charts, unhelpful winds and currents, confusion over the autopilot, and the unexpected appearance of fishing boats in the intended course. But reading Richard Petrow’s contemporary account of the Torrey Canyon disaster, a clear lesson is that Capt Rugiati was too slow to adjust. He had a plan, and saw far too late that the plan was doomed to failure — and with it, his ship.

Some accident investigators call this “plan continuation bias”.
http://timharford.com/2019/02/lessons-from-the-wreck-of-the-torrey-canyon/

Go and read the rest, its worth the effort although it gets a bit political You argue that bit elsewhere :encouragement:

 

[grumpy_o_g]

Tim Harford has a good post up about what we can all learn from the Torrey Canyon disaster, and not just at sea:



Go and read the rest, its worth the effort although it gets a bit political You argue that bit elsewhere :encouragement:

I attended a lecture on the lessons learned from the Torrey Canyon some years after the event. Most of us were wearing light blue suits though some had dark blue suits. Considering the first casualty of war is supposed to be plans it's amazing what the military will plan for.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Considering the first casualty of war is supposed to be plans it's amazing what the military will plan for.

Traditionally "the last war".

 

[sailorman]

Is this the same Tim Harford who does the "more or less" programme on R4 ob fridays

 

[SimonFa]

Is this the same Tim Harford who does the "more or less" programme on R4 ob fridays

Yep.

 

[dom]

Wait a second, “so Capt Rugiati decided instead to carry on through the treacherous channel between the Scilly Isles and the mainland.”

What channel wld that be? Not the 20 miles of 60+ metres of water between the IOS and the mainland with the only proviso being to avoid the friggin seven stones rocks, guarded by the Seven Stones Lightvessel and clearly marked on every chart of the area!

 

[KINGFISHER 8]

More inclined to think they were all fast asleep! I remember the stink ashore in Cornwall.

 

[Strolls]

A two-hour detour might mean days of waiting for the right tides,

Is the quoted really true?

I read Hartford's article and the April 1969 Popular Mechanics one he links to, and the tides were not otherwise mentioned.

If anything Captain Ruigiati's order to change / maintain direction comes across as stubbornness, countermanding his First Officer as if he resented him showing his initiative.

 

[zoidberg]

I attended a lecture on the lessons learned from the Torrey Canyon some years after the event. Most of us were wearing light blue suits though some had dark blue suits. Considering the first casualty of war is supposed to be plans it's amazing what the military will plan for.

Dunno which Staff College you went to, 'grumpy', but I seem to recall an elderly Greek playwright, Aeschylus, coming up with “In war, truth is the first casualty” some 2500 years ago. While I didn't actually get to see that play myself, that thought seems to have stuck.....

 

[Frank Holden]

Some info here.... https://www.swedishclub.com/upload/mrm_course_material/Torrey Canyon (WSLG).pdf
which is in the form of some sort of MRM/BRM teaching aid....

I see a bit of 'boiling frog' in it... culminating in the rubbish design of her Sperry autopilot.... horrible things...

It would appear that the captain had other things on his mind, including draft issues at Milford Haven...

Being Liberian flag the 'proper' inquiry is proving hard to find.

 

[Frank Holden]

Something better found here ... https://splashmaritime.com.au/Marops/data/less/Poll/torreycan.htm

And also..... The fact that tides aren't mentioned in 'Popular Mechanics' does not mean that tides were not an issue..

 

[Tomahawk]

The captain throwing his weight about and overriding the first mate is exactly what happened on the El Faro which sunk with the loss of all hands.

 

[Frank Holden]

ETA's based on state of the tide are not uncommon with deep draught ships... and at the time she would have been about as deep as they came 'West of Suez'. The only bigger stuff was running PG - Japan and PG - Santos.... and yes, masters can overide C/O's.... its what masters do... best not stuff it up though...

However an early alteration to the west, if made early and maintained would not have made that much difference to her ETA but she may have been 'on the blood'.... maybe it was going from springs towards neaps and if she missed that tide it would be a while.... not unknown to go alongside at HW and have to pump like fury to make sure you didn't sit on the bottom as the tide went out.....

I was on watch - 8 to 12 - on a bright sunny morning south of the Isle of Wight on passage Liverpool to London - when the R/O bounced into the wheelhouse with the news of the Torrey Canyon's stranding.....

 

[Kukri]

Some info here.... https://www.swedishclub.com/upload/mrm_course_material/Torrey Canyon (WSLG).pdf
which is in the form of some sort of MRM/BRM teaching aid....

I see a bit of 'boiling frog' in it... culminating in the rubbish design of her Sperry autopilot.... horrible things...

It would appear that the captain had other things on his mind, including draft issues at Milford Haven...

Being Liberian flag the 'proper' inquiry is proving hard to find.

I seem to remember that the Exxon Valdez had one.

And here’s a somewhat similar case:

http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1412/11204.pdf

 

[doug748]

Dunno which Staff College you went to, 'grumpy', but I seem to recall an elderly Greek playwright, Aeschylus, coming up with “In war, truth is the first casualty” some 2500 years ago. While I didn't actually get to see that play myself, that thought seems to have stuck.....

Von Moltke is the man:

“No plan survives first contact with the enemy"
Quoted by Tilman.

First officers overriding juniors and than making a mess of things, is also known in aviation. In one case a flight deck crew of "old hands" taunted a new recruit and then, showing off, flew the aircraft into the ground.

 

[Frank Holden]

I seem to remember that the Exxon Valdez had one.

And here’s a somewhat similar case:

http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1412/11204.pdf[/QUOTE]

There was a similar case on an RAN small ship in the GBR..... OOW knew what he was doing...OM came up the stairs... countermanded ( is that a word?) the OOW... whoopsy ... crash ... thud... bugger me ... etc..

Or were you talking about the evil Sperry? Bloody great lever on the left... bloody great ( steel... none of this plastic nonsense ) button on top to engage/disengage the thing... lever was about 18 inches long and would not have looked out of place on the GWR... switching points ...

But while all was engaged in autopilot you could still spin the wheel... and she would alter course ...

On the ex Gudrun Maersk later that year my monkey was banned from the bridge 'cos she would use the wheel as a climbing frame... and the ship would alter course... just like that...

Back on track.... so to speak...

Very poor BRM.... very poor everything really

But I do think hounding the master and the gutter press then posting the photo of him under the bed was the lowest of the low... he was a sick man and as I recall had TB...

 

[Hydrozoan]

Von Moltke is the man:

“No plan survives first contact with the enemy"
Quoted by Tilman.

First officers overriding juniors and than making a mess of things, is also known in aviation. In one case a flight deck crew of "old hands" taunted a new recruit and then, showing off, flew the aircraft into the ground.

That was the elder von Moltke and it was strictly: '... no plan of operations extends with any certainty beyond the first contact with the main hostile force' which is a bit more nuanced, if a lot less memorable. (His nephew is remembered amongst other things for 'We are ready [for war], and the sooner it comes, the better for us' which perhaps suggests - among other things - a greater confidence in plans.)

 

[oldmanofthehills]

Wait a second, “so Capt Rugiati decided instead to carry on through the treacherous channel between the Scilly Isles and the mainland.”

What channel wld that be? Not the 20 miles of 60+ metres of water between the IOS and the mainland with the only proviso being to avoid the friggin seven stones rocks, guarded by the Seven Stones Lightvessel and clearly marked on every chart of the area!

I think an editorial mishap perhaps. He should have said the captain decided to carry on through the treacherous channel between the IOS and Seven Stones Reef, which as only about 5 mile wide. Fishing boats go there with all the time but its no place for a tanker with lack of clarity as to their position relative to the reef. I have seen fishing boats also go into the very shallow water mid reef but its not something I fancy.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Being Liberian flag the 'proper' inquiry is proving hard to find.

Years ago I went into the old Kelvin Hughes in the Minories to buy some charts and while I was waiting to correct them I browsed their bookshelves. I remember noting that the UK Merchant Marine regulations filled two full shelves, which the Liberians ones were a single modest volume.

Do they actually enquire or even care if one of theirs goes down, or do they shrug and make a mental note not to expect the cheque next year?

 

[alan_d]

Dunno which Staff College you went to, 'grumpy', but I seem to recall an elderly Greek playwright, Aeschylus, coming up with “In war, truth is the first casualty” some 2500 years ago. While I didn't actually get to see that play myself, that thought seems to have stuck.....

Do you know where in Aeschylus that comes from? (WIkiquote has it among Aeschylus misattributions.)
I have been trying to find the source, but the earliest verifiable record I can find dates back to 1916, although Samuel Johnson expressed a similar idea in 1758. "Among the calamities of war may be justly numbered the diminution of the love of truth, by the falsehoods which interest dictates and credulity encourages."