Cowes harbour safety review follows ferry fog incident
Cowes Harbour Commission (CHC) is continuing to review safety at Cowes Harbour on the Isle of Wight following the publication of the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) report into the sinking of the Contessa 32, Greylag.
The unoccupied yacht was on a swinging mooring to the east of the Inner Fairway channel when it was hit by the Red Funnel-operated Red Falcon ferry in October 2018.
The MAIB has highlighted the danger of commercial vessels to people sleeping on yachts in Cowes Harbour, which ‘had not been sufficiently considered, documented or mitigated with risk assessments produced by Cowes Harbour Commission, Shepards Wharf Marina or Cowes Yacht Haven’.
Cowes Harbour Master Capt. Stuart McIntosh said additional safety control measures were introduced in 2019 for the rafting of yachts in the Inner Harbour during busy events like Cowes Week, where up to six yachts, depending on size, can be rafted. These include putting a light on the outer most yacht and notifying Red Funnel. In normal operating conditions, two to three yachts can raft up. In winds of over 20 knots extra limitations on rafting also apply. Yachts have always been restricted to mooring outside the Inner Fairway western limit and this will now be marked on Admiralty Chart 2793.
“We are reducing risks to as low as reasonably practicable,” explained Capt. McIntosh. “There is an ongoing full review to see if additional control measures would be suitable and we are discussing this with local mooring providers and more widely with other bodies like the British Ports Authority.”
Temporary General Directions, which prohibit ships of 48m and over from navigating the Inner Fairway or River Medina when visibility is less than two cables (0.2 miles) and bans passenger and commercial vessels under 48m from navigating in the Inner Fairway or River Medina when visibility is less than 100m, have also been made permanent.
The MAIB investigation found that the master of the Red Falcon had to take over from an inexperienced helmsman who had difficulty steering. The fog meant the master had to rely totally on his instrumentation, and his lack of practice resulted in the overcorrection of steering. Red Falcon subsequently left the channel to port, swinging through 220° and narrowly missing the Cowes Yacht Haven marina wall.
‘The subsequent collision and grounding occurred because the master lost his orientation in the fog and drove the ferry in the wrong direction. He became disorientated because he was suffering from cognitive overload due to high stress, lack of visibility, bridge equipment ergonomics, and the breakdown of support from the bridge team,’ the report found.