Fog and inaccurate navigational information led to the grounding of a container vessel on the Fraser River last January, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada ruled Friday, following an investigation.
The German-owned Cap Blanche, a 220-metre, 38,000-ton ship, was heading to Fraser Surrey Docks on Jan. 25 when it ran aground at Steveston Bend.
“The pilot used a function on his portable pilotage unit to assess the rate of turn to transit through the Steveston Bend. The information given by the equipment was inaccurate because it was subject to an unidentified GPS (global positioning system) smoothing interval,” stated TSBC in a news release.
Of note, there was minimal damage to the ship and no one was injured. Nor was there any reported pollution from the incident.
TSBC warned that if navigators depend on a single piece of navigation equipment, there is a greater risk of errors. In this case the vessel was succesfully guided into the river by BC Coast Pilots at which point a pilot from Fraser River Pilots, which routinely pilots ships up and down the river, took control of the ship with its own navigational devices. Shortly after, the ship grounded.
TSBC wrote a safety advisory to the Pacific Pilotage Authority explaining its concerns about having the proper equipment hooked up to adequate GPS data.
At the time of the incident, PPA’s CEO Kevin Obermeyer explained that the vessel hit a “sand wave,” a large ridge or hump that forms in the river.
Local environmentalist Otto Langer said it raised concerns about the safety of the river and its ability to handle planned jet fuel and other toxic freight.
“Despite all the assurances, all the technology, all the tugboats and experienced pilots that VAFFC say they will have; if there’s equipment and people involved, then accidents will happen,” said Langer, a retired federal fisheries biologist, who’s warned of catastrophic consequences for the river if a major fuel spill occurred.
