Near miss between MS Skiftet and MS Viking Grace in the archipelago sea on 12 August 2023
Description of the incident
MS Skiftet and MS Viking Grace ended up in a near miss situation to the north of Degerö in the Enskär bend at 16:25 local time on 12 August 2023. Viking Grace was travelling to Turku (east) and Skiftet to Långnäs (west).
When Skiftet left Sottunga before the near miss, it was notified by the Archipelago VTS (Vessel Traffic Service) that Viking Grace, Gudingen and Odin were coming towards it in the channel. At 16:14, Viking Grace notified Archipelago VTS that it would arrive at Ljungö narrows west off Enskär bend in 20 minutes, at which point it was told that Skiftet was coming to meet it. Before the passing, the vessels were in contact with each other on the VTS channel1 . Skiftet proposed passing so that both vessels would yield to the left (Port side). However, Viking Grace demanded that the passing take place according to the COLREGs so that both would yield to the right (Star port). Both parties accepted this decision.
When arriving at the Enskär bend, Viking Grace started to turn right, but Skiftet continued to travel on its previous course (see Figure 1). In order to avoid a collision, Viking Grace decided to turn harder to the right. At the last moment, the officer of the watch of Skiftet noticed the dangerous situation that was emerging and changed the direction of the vessel hard to the right. When the vessels passed by each other, the shortest distance between them was only approximately 15 metres.
After the incident, the ships' masters had a discussion, in which matters such as the obligations to report to the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom were noted and it was ensured that neither party had sustained damage.
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I 1n the area, the Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) operates on the VHF channel 71
Background factors
Viking Grace and Skiftet pass every day in the same section of the channel due to the timetables of the vessels. VTS monitors vessels and warns them about oncoming traffic, among other things. The channel has a sharp bend north off Enskär, but Enskär does not limit visibility. The area of swept depth of the fairway area is fairly wide at the area, and therefore it gives room for evasive actions.
Both vessels are equipped with ARPA radar2 , ECDIS3 and AIS4 . At the time of the incident, the officer of the watch and the helmsman were on the bridge of Skiftet. The officer of the watch and a Pilotage Exemption Certificate holder acting as the pilot were on the bridge of Viking Grace.
Viking Grace is a roro-passenger ship operated by Viking Line Ab between Turku and Stockholm. The vessel was built in 2022. Its length is 218 m, width 31.8 m, and draught 6.8 m. The gross tonnage of the vessel is 57,565 GT and its maximum speed is 22 knots. At the time of the incident, there were a total of 1,839 persons consisting of passengers and crew on board the vessel. There were vehicles and trailers as cargo on the car deck.
MS Skiftet is a coastal roro-passenger operated by Nordic JetLine Finland Oy. The vessel operates between Långnäs and Kökar. Its length is 48.52 m, width 10.72 m and draught 3.9 m. The gross tonnage of the vessel is 961 GT and its maximum speed is 14 knots. At the time of the incident, there were a total of 42 persons consisting of passengers and crew on board, and in addition, there were vehicles on the car deck.
Observations
International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGs) require that every vessel shall at all times maintain a proper lookout by all available means appropriate in the prevailing circumstances and conditions so as to asses the risk of collision. Any action taken to avoid collision shall be clear , made well in advance and with due regard to the observance of good seamanship. According to the COLREGs, the passing takes place primarily by yielding to the right, and it must be clearly noticeable.
The goal of work at the bridge is that the whole watch has the same situational awareness and a mutual understanding of the measures to be taken. An essential point of this is a good and a clear communication between the personnel on watch. There were deficiencies in this aspect between the personnel on watch on board Skiftet, which led to the near miss situation.
The purpose of the Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) is to make vessel traffic safer and improve efficiency. The Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) refers to the supervision and guidance of vessel traffic with a readiness to react to changing traffic situations. The Archipelago VTS of the Western Finland VTS Centre supervises vessel traffic in the area, in which the incident occurred. The VTS had warned Viking Grace and Skiftet of the oncoming traffic, but it had not given a warning about the risk of collision.
The Finnish Border Guard has initiated a pre-trial investigation into this individual incident. The Safety Investigation Authority will not initiate a safety investigation into the case, but it repeats the safety recommendation it has issued earlier that also applies to this case:
"Finferries clarify its instructions on at least departure, telephone use and keeping a lookout, and develops its safety management and training system to better address both ship- and ferry-specific and human risks and their management." [2020-S36]
In addition, the Safety Investigation Authority wants to emphasise the importance of mutual communication and monitoring in connection with the work on the bridge. After the occurrence Nordic JetLine Finland Oy has taken measures to improve their safety management system.
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2Arpa = Automatic radar plotting aid
3ECDIS = Electronic Chart Display and Information System
4AIS = Automatic identification system, or a radio equipment system that transmits the vessel's location and identification information automatically.
Published 10.10.2023