Chief Engineer Pleads Guilty in 2024 MSC Runaway Incident in Charleston
The chief engineer working on the MSC Michigan VII in June 2024, when the vessel had a runaway incident as it was departing Charleston, South Carolina, entered into a plea agreement with the U.S. attorney’s office. In filing the agreement in the U.S. District Court in South Carolina, the U.S. Attorney’s office revealed a litany of problems aboard the vessel, which the crew was dealing with before the governor controlling the main engine failed on June 5, causing the vessel to reach speeds of up to 16 to 17 knots, more than twice the legal limit, in Charleston harbor.
Fernando San Diego San Juan, age 61 and a Filipino national, had joined the vessel as chief engineer in April 2024. Under the terms of the agreement, he agrees to plead guilty to one count that he failed to report a hazardous condition to the U.S. Coast Guard when the ship arrived in South Carolina, and a second charge that he obstructed the investigation after the incident by giving false information to the USCG and National Transportation Safety Board investigators as well as instructing another engineer not to tell the investigators about the actions taken aboard the vessel that caused the incident. Further, they report the pilot had not been advised of any mechanical issues with the vessel.
MSC Michigan VII was built in 2000 and was registered at the time of the incident in Liberia. Databases show it started operating for MSC in 2022. The vessel is 998 feet (304 meters) in length with a capacity of 6,648 TEU.
According to a detailed Stipulation of Facts in Support of Guilty Plea filed with the court, San Juan was only given a five-hour handover briefing when he joined the vessel, which they call “insufficient” for him to have obtained a complete picture of the status of the engine room and all the vessel’s critical machinery. They state that he discovered that there were “numerous problems with equipment” in the engine room. They cite oil and air leaking from the crankcase safety valve of the Main Air Compressor for the main engine, and the day before the incident, he also observed the second main air compressor was not functioning properly. It could only achieve approximately 60 percent of its rated capacity. San Juan wrote up the issues, and they were reported to the master of the vessel, who notified the shoreside office of the management company.
Other problems included a reduced capacity on the generators, meaning that many times the bow thruster could not be used while maneuvering. The vessel’s freshwater cooling system is also reported to have had a leak, and the cooling water for the lube oil system had developed a leak.
As early as April 24, San Juan was aware that the RPMs ordered by the bridge telegraph were not always being achieved by the main engine. The only way to achieve them was to manually adjust the length of the linkage rod between the governor and the fuel rack. They report this was in part due to the poor condition of the main engine fuel injector systems and leakages in the barrels and plungers when using lower viscosity, low-sulfur fuel. The main engine required more fuel to achieve the ordered RPMs when using the lower viscosity fuel. They assert the defendant knew the manual adjustments were hazardous because they could cause the linkage rod to fail.
MSC Michigan VII was departing Charleston at midday on June 5, 2024. After completing a turn and starting its departure, the third engineer realized the main engine was not achieving the ordered RPM. He leaves the control room to adjust the governor, and soon thereafter, the linkage rod disconnected from the governor.
According to the court papers, the defendant tried several times unsuccessfully to reconnect the linkage rod. While a fitter was working to repair the rod, the ship became a runaway, unable to slow the main engine.
Authorities ordered a main roadway bridge crossing the harbor, the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, to be closed and evacuated local beaches. As the ship sped out of the harbor, it was charged that it caused more than $500,000 in damages along the shoreline. The crew was able to stop the engine by the time the ship exited the harbor. It anchored and was brought back into the port, where it was detained for 44 days by the USCG.
The following day, they write in the statement of fact that the defendant told investigators that the crew never adjusted the linkage rod and that only a qualified technician would adjust the linkage rod. Further, the court papers state that the defendant approached the vessel’s fourth engineer, telling him to repeat the statements that they had not adjusted the rod.
The plea agreement highlights that the first charge of failing to report the hazardous condition on the vessel has a maximum sentence of six years imprisonment and/or a fine of $250,000, as well as a term of up to three years supervised release. The charge of obstructing the proceeding also has a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment and/or a fine of $250,000, as well as up to three years supervised release. No date was announced for the sentencing.