Search for phone signal caused oil spill, say Japanese investigators
- Reference: 1695961928
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/09/29/signal_search_caused_oil_spill/
- Source link:
The MV Wakashio was en route from Lianyungang, China to a Brazilian port when, on July 25 2020, it struck trouble near Blue Bay Marine Park, a popular snorkeling spot on the Indian Ocean nation Mauritius. The Japanese-owned vessel was sailing under a Panamanian flag of convenience, and captained by a Indian national.
According to the report, two days before it ran aground, the captain changed the 100,000-plus ton ship’s route to travel five nautical miles from the coast line instead of the originally planned 22 nautical miles. He ordered the course change without obtaining proper marine charts of the area and therefore did not know that waters in the area are less than 20 meters deep.
[1]
The ship subsequently hit a coral reef.
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“Reefs and obstacles were displayed near the place of occurrence,” [4]reads [PDF] the 89-page Japan Transport Safety Board report in Japanese.
“The body buckled due to being knocked to the seabed and broke into the skin near the fuel oil tank. As a result, about 1,000 tons of fuel oil loaded in the tank spilled out to sea,” the document states.
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The report noted that the captain of the vessel changed the voyage plan for the purpose of coming within range of signal for his smartphone. It also noted the behavior was not an isolated incident and that safety awareness among the crew at large was lacking.
[6]Scientists turn to mid-20th century tech for low-power underwater comms
[7]Windows screensaver left broadcast techie all at sea
[8]Clumsy ships, one Chinese, sever submarine cables that connect Taiwanese islands
[9]Singapore to double its submarine cable landing sites by 2033
It gets worse: the report found that just before the incident, the captain knocked back two glasses of whiskey and water during a shipboard birthday party.
“Shit, what I have done in my life? Now, my career is gone!” accurately said the captain, according to a transcript of a voyage data recording (VDR) audio clip taken from the boat. Such recordings are required on ships weighing more than 3000 tons for the purpose of assisting in accident investigations.
The captain was later [10]arrested.
The transcript reveals chatter regarding both the birthday party and the quest for better cell phone signal. Local police [11]reportedly originally denied the ship had sailed close to land and its operator Mitsui OSK [12]told media outlet Forbes the fleet had access to free unlimited satellite internet onboard the ship.
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The East African island nation declared a state of environmental emergency the day following the spill.
According to the Japan Transport Safety Board, the oil spill spread at sea from Blue Bay to nearby Trou d'Eau Douce, a distance of around 25 km by sea and 35 km by coastline. The oil also spread into coastal coves.
Cleanup was delayed due to a combination of COVID-19 and weather conditions, the Board wrote, which caused the oil spill to do further damage.
Greenpeace has [14]labelled the incident the worst environmental disaster in Mauritius history. The org reported dead whales and dolphins washing ashore, among many other unpleasantries. ®
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[4] https://www.mlit.go.jp/jtsb/ship/rep-acci/2023/MA2023-10-1_2020tk0010.pdf
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[6] https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/07/mit_underwater_communications/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/25/on_call/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2023/02/21/taiwan_vietnam_submarine_cable_outages/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/07/singapore_to_double_submarine_cable/
[10] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/18/mauritius-arrests-captain-of-oil-spill-ship-mv-wakashio
[11] https://web.archive.org/web/20200820024255/https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-mauritius-environment/mauritius-arrests-captain-of-stricken-japanese-oil-tanker-idUKKCN25E1W5
[12] https://www.forbes.com/sites/nishandegnarain/2020/10/10/wakashio-captains-wifi-story-in-doubt-following-new-revelations-in-mauritius-oil-spill-case/?sh=158ded93ada9
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[14] https://www.greenpeace.org/international/story/49085/mauritius-worst-environmental-disaster-one-year-on/
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Wow
Trust me.. A few feet does make a difference. I've got a cubic metre where I can get a signal in 40 acres. (apologies for the archaic measurement). Mind you, ships' captains seem to have form for coast hugging for dubious reason.. Remember that cruise ship off Italy that went crunch and rolled over.
“Shit, what I have done in my life? Now, my career is gone!”
No thought about the environmental disaster he had caused. Just concern for crashing his career.
Re: “Shit, what I have done in my life? Now, my career is gone!”
I don't think that anybody even remotely concerned about an environmental disaster would be piloting a ship full of oil and then get distracted by the need for a phone signal, and then ignore charts to order several days of travel to come closer to coral reefs in order to talk to their girlfriend (or whoever).
Re: “Shit, what I have done in my life? Now, my career is gone!”
Unless you follow the links and do a bit more reading it isn't apparent from the Reg article that the ship itself broke up, so in addition to the environmental damage there was a multi-million dollar clean up and salvage bill, the loss of three lives during the salvage work, and the hull loss claim itelf.
In terms of real consequences, as far as I can tell (from respected source Wikipedia) the captain and first officer served about two and half years in clink - and as the captain was 58 his career was all but over anyway. It could also be argued that being held in a cell for a few months isn't too different to normal working conditions for the merchant navy. Adequate punishment? You decide.
The ship's owners Mitsui OSK are reported to have said at the time that the incident wasn't expected to affect their earnings. So rest assured peeps, no shareholders were harmed, no lessons were learned, and no flags of convenience were impaired.
The "Who, Me" at the start of the article is missing!
Uhm, what?
"The report noted that the captain of the vessel changed the voyage plan for the purpose of coming within range of signal for his smartphone"
Me: "Wait why don't they have a satellite phone on board? How would they stay in contact with shipping company and such?"
the fleet had access to free unlimited satellite internet onboard the ship.
.....
Wow. Just wow.
You're the captain of a 100,000 ton cargo ship and your only focus is getting a signal for your smartphone. So, without knowing the waters you are in or going to, without the slightest inkling that maybe you should check, you just change course straight into catastrophe.
At this point, the whisky is an anecdote. It is literally irrelevant. The big issue is changing course without checking anything. That's like driving along a road, closing your eyes and then deciding when to take a left turn. I would have thought that naval school would have taught him the necessity of knowing where you're going when captaining a vessel of any kind, let alone an enormous cargo ship.
Who decided to give him command and how much experience did he have beforehand ? Was this his first command ? I cannot believe he was a seasoned captain. I would think that cargo companies prefer having their ships commanded by someone with experience, but this dude acted like a frat boy on party night.
Well, in any case, that'll be his last command. I don't feel sorry for him.
Who decided to give him command and how much experience did he have beforehand ?
I believe your questions were answered by the quote "Flag of convenience". This translates as minimal legislation, staff training, minimum wages, because we are using a country that allows us to do so,
If they were sailing under our own countries flag we would have far too many rules to follow, environmental consideration, staff welfare, minimum responsibilities etc, how can you possibly make a profit when you have to comply with all those rules?
When you are dealing with the lowest cost operation you can possibly get away with don't expect the most diligent / responsible people
/Rattus
Is "Wakashio" by any chance the Japanese for "Troutbridge"?
...what is the Japanese for "left hand down a bit"?
Wow
I've heard of people walking off cliffs while holding up their phone (why do people do that when trying to get a signal, as if an extra two feet of elevation is going to matter?) trying to get a signal, but never heard of someone taking a vehicle along for the ride. Not even a bicycle or a car, let alone a 100,000 ton cargo ship!