4 ‘COGNITIVE OVERLOAD’ CAUSED COLLISION
The Marine Accident Investigation Bureau (MAIB) has published its report into the 21 October 2018 collision between the car-ferry Red Falcon and an unmanned sailing yacht on a swing-mooring off Cowes, Isle of Wight.
Operational shortcomings were cited as the cause of the incident, which took place at 08.11 in thick fog. No passengers or crew were injured aboard the Southampton-east Cowes ferry, which ended up aground for several hours, although various RNLI crews and a Coastguard helicopter were scrambled. However, the impact was so severe that the Contessa 32 Greylag subsequently sank. A family who were aboard a neighbouring yacht at the time were deemed to have had a very lucky escape.
The MAIB found that the ferry’s temporary master had become disoriented when his vessel swung out of control in the fog and fixated upon electronic chart and engine instrumentation alone, despite conflicting data from other instruments, and as a result of high stress became ‘cognitively overloaded’. It also found that the ‘bridge team’ disengaged with the crisis owing to poor communication and inadequate emergency scenario training, while Red Funnel’s risk assessments failed to adequately mitigate for risks to ‘people potentially asleep aboard moored yachts’.
Two key safety recommendations concluded the report. It suggested Red Funnel should conduct regular assessments of the shiphandling capabilities of its personnel, including pilotage by instruments alone, and that it should review the means of determining ship orientation in relation to electronic charting displays.
The Cowes Harbour Commission and Cowes Yacht Haven were also asked to conduct their own risk assessments and to detail any mitigation measures within their control.