97016 Contravention of Traffic Separation Scheme.

Contravention of Traffic Separation Scheme.
Dover Strait
Report No. 97016

A vessel was tracked by the CNIS radar approaching the ZC2 buoy on a courseof 0140T. At 1955 the target was abeam of ZC2 buoy but no alteration ofcourse was detected by radar. (an alteration of course to about 0450T wouldhave been expected). At 2033 the target entered the separation zone. TheCNIS radar showed close quarters situations with crossing traffic at thistime. CNIS attempted to contact the vessel by VHF. At 2044 the vessel enteredthe south west traffic lane 4.8 miles south west of MPC buoy on a courseof 0240T. At 2052 contact was made with the vessel which was a large loadedbulk carrier drawing 17.0m. The master reported problems with the gyro.The radar showed the vessel to come slowly to starboard on a course oppositeto the traffic flow. Having contravened Rule 10 (b) (i) for some nine miles,the vessel re-entered the north east lane and continued to her dischargingport. Whilst transiting the wrong lane, several close quarters situationsdeveloped with south west bound and crossing traffic.

The Coastguard forwarded a report to the Marine Safety Agency which immediatelyalerted the Port State Control authorities in the vessel's discharge port.The vessel was boarded on arrival and a statement taken from the master.The reasons given for contravening the TSS regulations were:

* A voltage drop caused large, but equal errors in both gyros. Thesewent un-noticed by the master and second mate

* The second mate plotted GPS positions on the chart but did notcheck by other means

The charts showed no evidence of a passage plan or the use of parallelindexing. The second mate did not report the vessel's deviation from herplanned route until the ship was in the separation zone. It took CNIS 28minutes to contact the vessel. The incident highlights the need for goodwatchkeeping standards to be maintained and a proper passage plan to beimplemented making optimum use of all available navigation equipment.The fact that a voltage drop caused both gyros to read incorrectly, andthat this went undetected, shows that regular cross checks are essential.The incident also illustrates the need for good bridge team management.Port State Control authorities are notified when ships are identified contraveningRule 10 in the Dover Strait. As contraventions to the regulations may indicatesub-standard watchkeeping, any vessel reported may be targeted for inspection.