Fairplay 21 (2009) | Novatug Maritime Wiki

Classification

Incident Type: Hydrodynamic Interaction
Severity: Medium
Primary Source: Dutch Safety Board Fairplay report, comparative section on Fairplay 21

Vessel Details

Field	Value
Vessel Name	Fairplay 21
Vessel Names	Fairplay 21 / Lars Maersk
Vessel Type	Tug
Flag State
IMO Number
Gross Tonnage
LOA (m)
Owner/Operator	Smit (bareboat charter from Fairplay)
Crew Size

Incident Details

Field	Value
Date	2009-11-19
Location	Nieuwe Waterweg near Hook of Holland
Region	North Sea
Coordinates	51.9244, 4.4778
Fatalities
Injuries
Missing
Investigation Body	Dutch Safety Board
Direct Damage	Collision with Lars Maersk after Fairplay 21 came broadside ahead during towage
Economic Damage

Key facts

Fairplay 21 was towing the unpowered container ship Lars Maersk during a voyage on the Nieuwe Waterweg.
The Dutch Safety Board states that the tug came broadside ahead of Lars Maersk and the vessels collided near Hook of Holland.
The board's comparative section summarizes the Smit investigation as finding that the tug was towing at full power and had insufficient reserve power to correct the tow's course.
The reported speed through the water at the collision was approximately 5.5 knots.
Smit recommended that tugs should not use full power for standard assistance, preserving reserve for unexpected situations.

Narrative

The Dutch Safety Board's report on the later Fairplay 22 casualty includes a comparative account of the earlier Fairplay 21 occurrence. On 19 November 2009, Fairplay 21 was acting as the forward tug for the unpowered container ship Lars Maersk during a towage voyage on the Nieuwe Waterweg near Hook of Holland. The tug came broadside ahead of the ship and the vessels collided.

The board states that Smit, which had chartered Fairplay 21 from Fairplay, investigated the occurrence. Its summary of the Smit investigation says that the tug was towing at full power at the pilot's request and no longer had enough reserve power to correct the course of Lars Maersk. The speed through the water was approximately 5.5 knots. The Smit investigation identified insufficient consideration of the tug's limitations at the tow's speed and of alternative towing or assisting arrangements, and recommended retaining reserve power during standard operations.

The reviewed Dutch Safety Board report is a comparative account rather than a dedicated investigation into Fairplay 21. It does not provide a normalized casualty count, detailed vessel particulars, or a quantified damage estimate for this occurrence.

Sequence of events

Date/time	Event
2009-11-19	Fairplay 21 towed the unpowered Lars Maersk on the Nieuwe Waterweg.
2009-11-19	The tug came broadside ahead of Lars Maersk near Hook of Holland and the vessels collided.
2009-11-19	Smit's investigation recommended retaining reserve power during standard towage and assistance operations.

Contributing factors

Factor	Evidence status	Description
Towing speed and reserve power	Reported	The Dutch Safety Board summarizes Smit's finding that full-power towing at approximately 5.5 knots left insufficient reserve for course correction.
Towing arrangement and tug limitations	Reported	The Smit investigation was summarized as finding that the tug's limitations and alternative towing or assisting arrangements had not been sufficiently considered.

Investigation

The Dutch Safety Board included Fairplay 21 in the comparative section of its report on Fairplay 22. It did not conduct a separate investigation into the 2009 occurrence in the reviewed material; it summarized the earlier Smit investigation and its recommendation to preserve reserve power. The reviewed report does not state whether anyone was injured or provide a normalized damage estimate.

References

Dutch Safety Board report: Fairplay 22 collision and capsize, including the Fairplay 21 comparative case