Fail Boat Sails Home

MarineGunrock

says...

Bridge: 1, Dumbass captain: 0

dag

says...

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag.(show it anyway)

delicious

campionidelmondo

says...

failing home...across the ocean...

jimnms

says...

I've seen this before on some show on the History Channel. IIRC it wasn't the boat captain's fault, the bridge operator was the one at fault. I'm looking for the whole story now.

jimnms

says...

http://bst.gc.ca/en/reports/marine/2001/m01c0054/m01c0054.asp

On 08 August 2001, the Windoc departed Thunder Bay with a cargo of wheat for Montréal, Quebec. At 1748 eastern daylight time (EDT) on 11 August 2001, the vessel arrived at the southern entrance to the canal. It then proceeded under vertical-lift Bridge 21 and bascule Bridge 19A and entered Lock 8. At 1923, it departed the lock, passed under bascule Bridge 19, and proceeded downbound in the canal. Eight of the 22 crew members on board were permitted to disembark from the vessel before it proceeded downbound.

At 2028, the master of the vessel informed the TCC controller on VHF radiotelephone channel 14 that the vessel was off Port Robinson. Accompanying the master in the wheelhouse were the third officer and a wheelsman. The vessel's speed over the ground averaged approximately six knots from Port Robinson to Bridge 11.

The vessel proceeded downbound, and the wheelhouse team observed the flashing amber approach light, located 925 m from the bridge on the west side of the canal, which indicated that the bridge operator was aware of the approaching vessel. The speed of the vessel was reported to be approximately five knots. As the vessel neared the bridge, the signal lights on the bridge were flashing red and the lift span was being raised. When the vessel was approximately 0.75 to 0.5 nm from the bridge, the signal lights changed to solid green and the lift span was in the fully-raised position. With the centre line of the vessel lined up with the bridge signal lights, the vessel proceeded under the bridge.

When the vessel was approximately halfway under the bridge, the third officer observed that the bridge signal lights were solid red and the lift span was descending. At 2053, the master sounded a few blasts on the ship's whistle. The master, without identifying himself or the bridge in question, called the TCC on VHF channel 14 about the lowering of the bridge. The master quickly stopped the engines and ordered an evacuation of the wheelhouse.

The master and third officer left the wheelhouse by the starboard navigation bridge wing. As they proceeded down the external bridge access ladder, the span of the bridge struck the vessel in way of the wheelhouse front windows, subsequently destroying the vessel's wheelhouse and funnel.

The wheelsman remained at his station in the wheelhouse and lay down on the deck as the bridge span passed overhead. He freed himself from the debris and descended by the deckhouse stairwell before the third officer returned to the wheelhouse to look for him. When the TCC controller heard a call on VHF channel 14 about a bridge being lowered, he recognized the voice and used a camera, located at Seaway mile 14.6, west of Port Robinson, to look at Bridge 11. The controller saw that the stern of the vessel had not yet cleared the bridge, and the fixed camera mounted on the east tower of Bridge 11 showed that the picture on the monitor was shaking. Thus, the controller concluded that the bridge had been lowered onto the vessel.

...

The operator took two Darvon-N tablets at approximately 0800 that morning to relieve back pain and had consumed between two and four glasses of wine around lunch time. Between 1300 and 1400, he received a telephone call from an SLSMC team leader, who asked if the operator would agree to work an overtime shift that evening on Bridge 11. The bridge operator agreed. No information concerning his fitness for work was exchanged at the time of the request, nor was it common practice to do so. SLSMC's policy is that no employee shall report to duty with their ability impaired. After the telephone call, the operator relaxed, ate, and tried to get some sleep but did not sleep. Reportedly, he did not consume any additional alcohol or take any medication after accepting to work the overtime shift.