At about 1817 on 23 February 2008, the Marshall Islands registered passenger ship
Van Gogh
grounded briefly on the western shore of the Mersey River during a departure from Devonport,
Tasmania. The ship was under the conduct of a harbour pilot who had taken over the conduct from
the master about five minutes before, after the master had manoeuvred the ship off the berth.
As the ship left the berth, it began to be set towards the bulk carrier Goliath berthed ahead. Van
Gogh was under the influence of the ebb tide and fresh water that was flowing from the Mersey
River's catchment following heavy rain in the area in the previous 24 hours.
Van Gogh was difficult to manoeuvre at low speed because of its twin propellers and single rudder
configuration. This, combined with the strong ebb tide and fresh water outflow in the river at the
time of departure, resulted in there being insufficient water flow over its rudder to enable the pilot
to manoeuvre the ship as he intended. In addition, the master did not inform the pilot that the crew
would be using the ship's engines independently during turns in the river. This resulted in the pilot
being concerned that his orders were being countermanded because he saw that the engine
telegraph levers were not as he had ordered.
Following the grounding, the pilot successfully manoeuvred the ship back into the channel and the
ship departed the port without further incident. There was no damage to the ship and no pollution
resulted.
The report identifies a number of safety issues and acknowledges the safety actions which have
been taken by Club Cruise International and the Tasmanian Ports Corporation to address them.
Download complete report [PDF
1.6 MB kb]
