Lookout! – issue 14, September 2009

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The impact caused serious injuries to all five volunteer rescue personnel on board. The skipper lost his right eye and sustained severe facial injuries. Another crewmember lost all of his teeth.

All crew suffered injuries when the vessel struck a rock.

The rescue vessel had been responding to a yacht in distress. The rescue crew set off in winds reaching 38 knots, and 2–3 metre seas. All but one of the crew had completed all of the Coastguard qualifications, and there were two qualified skippers on board.

Despite this experience and training, as the voyage progressed, the crew relied increasingly on GPS (Global Positioning System) data for navigation. The vessel was capable of displaying integrated data from radar and GPS, but in the conditions the radar data had deteriorated. The skipper continued to try to decipher the combined readout, while the navigator relied solely on the GPS.

When the vessel made radio contact with the stricken yacht, the skipper slowed to about 5 knots. The yacht’s crew reported that they could see the rescue vessel’s lights dead ahead.

Looking ahead, the rescue vessel’s crew saw a light, and the skipper increased speed to about 16 knots, thinking he was heading toward the yacht.

As the vessel lurched forward, its spotlight illuminated a rock about 6.5 metres distant. With no time to react, the vessel struck the rock with a violent impact.

Despite serious injuries, one of the crew was able to navigate the vessel off the rock and drop the anchor. Two of the crew were able to provide first aid to the others, and the alarm was raised. All five were later winched off the vessel by helicopter.

LOOKOUT! POINTS

1. An over-reliance on GPS for navigation is a frequent cause of maritime accidents, and is an unacceptable standard of navigation. The crew were aware they were operating on a dangerous coastline, on a lee shore in poor conditions, and at night, yet they were still prepared to continue the voyage relying solely on GPS.
   
   While a useful tool when used wisely, GPS can only be an aid to navigation, especially when operating close to the coast. In this case, the GPS unit had stopped receiving data some time before the collision
2. The crew had mistaken a shore-based light for that of the yacht they were tasked to assist. A navigator who had systematically calculated distance and time to run from each previous waypoint would not have made this error.
3. Similarly, the skipper was aware that the radar data was unreliable at best. He could have stopped the vessel until an accurate position could be fixed, or called off the mission completely, rather than threaten the safety of his crew.

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