(www.MaritimeCyprus.com) Shortly after 1230 on 4 November 2023, the passenger vessel Spirit of Discovery lost propulsion in heavy weather while crossing the Bay of Biscay. Over 100 passengers were injured during this period. Eight of the seriously injured passengers were taken directly to hospital on arrival into port and one of these passengers later died from his injuries.
Shortly after 1230 on 4 November 2023, the passenger vessel Spirit of Discovery lost propulsion in heavy weather while crossing the Bay of Biscay. This led to the vessel moving violently while the crew restarted the vessel’s propulsion. The propulsion issues, storm force conditions and vessel motion continued until the vessel was able to resume its passage the following morning. Over 100 passengers were injured during this period. Eight of the seriously injured passengers were taken directly to hospital on arrival at Portsmouth, England. One of these passengers, Trevor Gilks, later died from his injuries.
Investigation
The investigation found that Spirit of Discovery lost propulsion because the vessel’s violent motion in heavy weather caused its propellers to over speed and its propulsion pods to automatically shut down. This loss of control was initially exacerbated by the propulsion control system automatically and unexpectedly parking both pods at 90° to the vessel’s heading. During the 18 hours that the vessel was hove to, at slow speed, the port and starboard pods intermittently oversped and shut down a further eight times.
The investigation also found that Spirit of Discovery’s captain had amended the vessel’s programme in anticipation of heavy weather during the return voyage. However, when a scheduled visit to A Coruña was cancelled the decision was made to cross the Bay of Biscay in very high waves. This decision was not effectively challenged by the crew and operational teams ashore despite weather guidance advising against the crossing. Once Spirit of Discovery was hove to, the crew’s emergency response was hampered because the mass casualty incident plan was not implemented, which contributed to the vessel’s medical team becoming over stretched.
Later, delay in identifying that a passenger had suffered a severe spinal injury led to him receiving suboptimal treatment that may have affected the severity of his injury. Four days after the accident, he died in hospital from his spinal injury.
Action taken
Spirit of Discovery’s owner, manager, medical services provider, propulsion manufacturer and shipyard have taken significant action to address the safety issues identified by this investigation. These actions have included improved vessel itinerary and passage planning risk assessments, better tracking of technical issues, implementation of the mass casualty incident plan, enhanced specialist medical support, improved machinery failure checklists and securing of objects for heavy weather.
RecommendationsÂ
Recommendations have been made to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to propose that international carriage requirements include electronic inclinometers, and to the vessel’s classification societies to improve the assessment of vessel motion on equipment performance and the quality of instruction manuals. The propulsion manufacturer has been recommended to issue a customer advice note to owners of vessels fitted with similar pods. The Cruise Lines International Association has been recommended to increase the number of trauma trained medical personnel carried by passenger vessels and to update its policies on the risk assessment and securing of vessel furniture in heavy weather.
For more details, click below to download the full UK MAIB investigation report:
Source: MAIB
For more maritime investigation reports, click HERE.
