NTSB: Releases Report, Gives a Recommendation and Issues Challenge to Maritime Academies

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released its full report on the grounding of a passenger vessel at the intersection of Lynn Canal and icy Strait in Southeast Alaska on May 14, 2007. The NTSB, in another E-mail release, also recommended that State and Federal maritime academies teach students the circumstances of this accident, including their responsibility as newly licensed officers to prepare themselves for assigned duties and to express their concerns if placed in situations for which they are unprepared.

National Transportation Safety Board has issued its Marine Accident Report concerning the Grounding of U.S. Passenger Vessel Empress of the North, at the intersection of Lynn Canal and Icy Strait, Southeast Alaska, on May 14, 2007.

The NTSB report (MAR-08/02) discusses the May 14, 2007, accident in which the passenger vessel Empress of the North grounded on Rocky Island, about 20 miles southwest of Juneau. The vessel was carrying 206 passengers and 75 crewmembers on a cruise through Alaska’s Inland Passage. The junior third mate, a newly licensed officer, was on his first navigation watch at the time of the accident. The U.S. Coast Guard and good Samaritan vessels evacuated passengers and crewmembers and transported them back to Juneau. No injuries or pollution resulted from the accident. The cost of repairing the vessel and returning it to service was estimated at $4.8 million.

The National Transportation Safety Board identified the following safety issues as a result of its accident investigation: the master’s decision to put an inexperienced third mate on watch without supervision or guidance; the junior third mate’s actions; watchkeeping procedures; documentation deficiencies; and malfunctioning lifesaving devices. As a result of its investigation, the Safety Board made recommendations to the U.S. state and Federal maritime academies and to the Passenger Vessel Association. Earlier recommendations were made to the Coast Guard.

Read the NTSB Report by clicking HERE.