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Accidents

Achieve (2020)

On 8 November 2020, the fishing vessel Achieve departed North Shields with a skipper and deckhand. After its final haul, it set course back toward Tynemouth. The general cargo ship Talis was sailing from Blyth toward Terneuzen and, after clearing pilotage waters, continued in fog at about 8 knots under the chief officer's watch. At about 15:38 UTC, Talis detected a close radar target but did not take effective avoiding action in time. Achieve then emerged from the fog with its wheelhouse unattended. At about 15:41 UTC, Achieve struck Talis's port side. The fishing vessel suffered severe structural damage forward and took on water. RNLI assistance and an attempt to tow Achieve back to Tynemouth did not save the vessel. Achieve sank at about 18:10 UTC. Talis sustained minor indentation and handrail damage to its port side, with no loss of watertight integrity. Minor pollution from Achieve was reported. No one was injured, both crews were accounted for, and no fatalities were reported. The MAIB found that neither vessel kept an effective lookout in restricted visibility. It also identified ineffective use of radar on both vessels, the fact that Achieve's wheelhouse was unattended at the collision, and late avoiding action by Talis. The source establishes the loss of Achieve and physical damage to both vessels but does not provide a normalized economic-loss figure or gross tonnage for Achieve.

Classification

FieldValue
Incident TypeCollision
SeverityHigh
Investigation BodyMAIB

Vessel Details

FieldValue
Vessel NameAchieve
Vessel NamesAchieve; Talis
Vessel TypeFishing Vessel
Flag StateUnited Kingdom [GB]
IMO Number
Gross Tonnage
LOA (m)8.98
Breadth (m)
Other Involved VesselsTalis, Panama-registered general cargo ship, IMO 9015424

Incident Details

FieldValue
Date2020-11-08
RegionNorth Sea
LocationOff Tynemouth, England
Coordinates55.0368, -1.4383
Fatalities0
Injuries0
Missing0
Direct Damage
Economic Damage

Key facts

  • Achieve departed North Shields with a skipper and deckhand and later returned toward Tynemouth after its final haul.
  • Talis was proceeding from Blyth toward Terneuzen in fog at about 8 knots.
  • At about 15:38 UTC, Talis detected a close radar target but did not take effective avoiding action in time.
  • At about 15:41 UTC, Achieve struck Talis's port side; Achieve later sank at about 18:10 UTC while under tow.
  • MAIB found ineffective lookout on both vessels, ineffective radar use, an unmanned Achieve wheelhouse and late avoiding action.

Narrative

On 8 November 2020, the fishing vessel Achieve departed North Shields with a skipper and deckhand. After its final haul, it set course back toward Tynemouth. The general cargo ship Talis was sailing from Blyth toward Terneuzen and, after clearing pilotage waters, continued in fog at about 8 knots under the chief officer's watch. At about 15:38 UTC, Talis detected a close radar target but did not take effective avoiding action in time. Achieve then emerged from the fog with its wheelhouse unattended. At about 15:41 UTC, Achieve struck Talis's port side. The fishing vessel suffered severe structural damage forward and took on water. RNLI assistance and an attempt to tow Achieve back to Tynemouth did not save the vessel. Achieve sank at about 18:10 UTC. Talis sustained minor indentation and handrail damage to its port side, with no loss of watertight integrity. Minor pollution from Achieve was reported. No one was injured, both crews were accounted for, and no fatalities were reported. The MAIB found that neither vessel kept an effective lookout in restricted visibility. It also identified ineffective use of radar on both vessels, the fact that Achieve's wheelhouse was unattended at the collision, and late avoiding action by Talis. The source establishes the loss of Achieve and physical damage to both vessels but does not provide a normalized economic-loss figure or gross tonnage for Achieve.

Sequence of events

Date/timeEvent
2020-11-08 about 15:38 UTCTalis detected a close radar target but did not take effective avoiding action in time.
2020-11-08 about 15:41 UTCAchieve, with its wheelhouse unattended, collided with Talis's port side.
2020-11-08 after 15:41 UTCAchieve took on water and an attempt was made to tow it back toward Tynemouth.
2020-11-08 about 18:10 UTCAchieve sank while under tow.

Contributing factors

FactorEvidence statusDescription
Ineffective lookout in restricted visibilityConfirmed findingMAIB found that neither vessel maintained an effective lookout in the fog.
Ineffective radar useConfirmed findingRadar information was not used effectively to identify and assess the collision risk.
Unmanned Achieve wheelhouseConfirmed findingAchieve's wheelhouse was unattended when the collision occurred.
Late avoiding action by TalisConfirmed findingTalis did not take effective avoiding action after detecting the close target.

Investigation

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch published Accident Investigation Report 14/2021. It found that the collision resulted from ineffective lookout and radar use in restricted visibility on both vessels, together with Achieve's unattended wheelhouse and Talis's late avoiding action. The report records no fatalities, injuries or missing persons and describes minor pollution from Achieve. It does not provide a normalized economic-loss estimate.

References

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