Ijsselstroom (2009)

Classification

• Incident Type: Capsize girding
• Severity: High

Vessel Details

Incident Details

Key facts

• Ijsselstroom was assigned as the stern tug for the rock-carrying barge Tak Boa 1, which was being brought into Peterhead by lead tug Lucas.
• The skipper towed over the stern while running astern and did not rig a bridle wire or gob rope.
• About five minutes after connecting to the barge, Ijsselstroom sheered to starboard, girted, and capsized.
• The tug's two deck crew were recovered from the water by a pilot boat; the skipper escaped through a wheelhouse window and was also recovered.
• MAIB recorded nil injuries and fatalities and declared the tug a constructive total loss.

Narrative

On the morning of 14 June 2009, Ijsselstroom was tasked to act as the stern tug for the rock-carrying barge Tak Boa 1 during its arrival at Peterhead. The barge carried about 5,000 tonnes of large rocks from Sweden and was being towed by the conventional tug Lucas. Ijsselstroom was a Dutch-flagged tug owned and operated by Van Wijngaarden Marine Services B.V., with three people aboard.

The skipper led the towline over Ijsselstroom's stern and intended to control the tug's heading with differential ahead power from its two engines while the tug made sternway. No bridle wire or gob rope was rigged. At about 04:34 BST the tug was made fast to the barge. As the lead tug increased speed on the approach, the skipper found the tug increasingly difficult to control. About five minutes after the connection, Ijsselstroom took a large sheer to starboard and the towline moved toward the beam, producing the destabilising forces associated with girting.

At about 04:40 BST the pilot reduced Lucas's speed after being told that the stern tug had nearly capsized, but Ijsselstroom then capsized to starboard. The two crew members on the open aft deck entered the water and were quickly recovered by the pilot boat. The skipper escaped from the sinking tug through a forward wheelhouse window and stepped onto the waiting boat. By 04:52 all three people had been recovered. The tug sank by the stern and was declared a constructive total loss.

MAIB found that stern towing while running astern was inherently unstable for a conventional tug, that the tow speed exceeded the conditions of earlier successful entries, and that the absence of a bridle or gob rope left no physical protection against the towline leading on the beam. The investigation also identified unfamiliarity with the emergency brake release, lack of a pilot-skipping briefing and risk assessment, and weaknesses in the tug operator's training and the port's risk controls.

Sequence of events

Contributing factors

Investigation

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch investigated the casualty as Report No. 4/2010. MAIB concluded that the girting and capsize arose from the combination of an unstable stern-towing method, excessive tow speed, the absence of a bridle or gob rope, limited emergency-release familiarity, and inadequate planning and risk controls. It recommended formal tug-skippers' training, review of tug suitability, and risk assessments and briefings before towing operations.

The report does not provide an IMO number or a monetary damage estimate.

References

• MAIB Report No. 4/2010: Loss of the tug Ijsselstroom

Related

• United Kingdom
• Marine Accident Investigation Branch
• Van Wijngaarden Marine Services B.V.
• Peterhead Port Authority
• Westminster Dredging Company Ltd
• Ijsselstroom
• Tak Boa 1
• Girding
• Tow line emergency release system
• Downflooding
• Capsize Girding
• Gog and Gob Rope / Bridle Wire
• Tug Incident Classification

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