Accident Report Concludes BNWAS Could Have Prevented Grounding

A ship's mate who had been drinking the night before and was probably sleep-deprived didn't notice the ship had gone aground for at least 10 minutes, a report has found.

The Transport Accident Investigation Commission's report into the grounding of the Anatoki off the coast of Golden Bay in May 2010 also found a navigational and alarm system should have been fitted on the bridge to mitigate the risk of one-man bridge operations.

The report says the mate consumed four or five pints of beer on shore before returning to the Anatoki about 10.15pm the night before, 45 minutes before he went on duty.

He was relieved shortly after midnight but was back on watch shortly after 4am.

Data shows the ship ran aground at 5.06am. The mate used a buzzer to call the engineer to say the engine “sounded different”.

When he tried to turn the ship around shortly afterwards he realised it was aground. He informed the master at 5.25am but the ship could not be refloated until after 1pm that day, with the assistance of a workboat and a charter fishing vessel.

The report said the mate, who had been in the fishing industry for 18 years, didn't recall falling asleep while on duty, but the events suggested it was a strong possibility.

"If he had not fallen asleep, he must have been doing something other than monitoring the progress of the vessel."

It also noted that he would have had a maximum of 3.5 hours of sleep in the previous 21 hours, which was likely to adversely affect his performance.

The report also said had the ship been fitted with a working bridge watch navigational and alarm system, the mate might have been alerted in time to prevent the ground.

Maritime New Zealand said it agreed it was desirable to make these alarms mandatory.

BNWAS Regulations

The requirements making it mandatory to have a bridge navigational watch alarm system (BNWAS) fitted to all passenger and cargo vessels can be found in the amendments made to SOLAS Chapter V Regulation 19 that were adopted by the IMO on 5th June 2009 in Resolution MSC.282(86).

The changes see the following subparagraph is added to paragraph 2.2 of the regulations:

.3 a bridge navigational watch alarm system (BNWAS), as follows:
.1 cargo ships of 150 gross tonnage and upwards and passenger ships irrespective of size constructed on or after 1 July 2011;
.2 passenger ships irrespective of size constructed before 1 July 2011, not later than the first survey* after 1 July 2012;
.3 cargo ships of 3,000 gross tonnage and upwards constructed before 1 July 2011, not later than the first survey* after 1 July 2012;
.4 cargo ships of 500 gross tonnage and upwards but less than 3,000 gross tonnage constructed before 1 July 2011, not later than the first survey* after 1 July 2013; and
.5 cargo ships of 150 gross tonnage and upwards but less than 500 gross tonnage constructed before 1 July 2011, not later than the first survey* after 1 July 2014.

The bridge navigational watch alarm system shall be in operation whenever the ship is underway at sea;
.4 a bridge navigational watch alarm system (BNWAS) installed prior to 1 July 2011 may subsequently be exempted from full compliance with the standards adopted by the Organization, at the discretion of the Administration."

BNWAS Compliance Timetable

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Navgard™ is a Bridge Navigational Watch Alarm System (BNWAS) manufactured by Martek Marine, designed specifically as a solution to the requirements of SOLAS Chapter V Regulation 19. The system meets the performance standards outlined in MSC.128(75) & IEC 62616.

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