C1/2007M M/S KRISTINA REGINA and barge CARRIER 5, collision in Danish territorial waters at Kadetrenden 29.5.2007

The Finnish passenger vessel KRISTINA REGINA was on her way from Amsterdam, Holland to Helsinki, Finland, when she, in poor visibility in the maritime area between Denmark and Germany collided with the Swedish barge CARRIER 5 tugged by tug boat PIONEER sailing under the flag of Comoros on 29 May 2007.

There was no damage to persons nor did KRISTINA REGINA suffer significant damage. On the other hand, the barge PIONEER lost part of the logs it was carrying and it sustained significant damages in her hull which were later repaired at a shipyard.

At the time of the event KRISTINA REGINA was using two radars, one of which was scaled to 6 miles and the other to 3 miles. Due to the sea clutter, the close radar targets could not be monitored with ARPA. KRISTINA REGINA has an AIS transmitter and receiver and its display is located on the bridge next to the radar. The VHF equipment and fog signal device of KRISTINA REGINA were operational and in use at the time of the event. The navigation lights of the vessel were operational at the time of the event.

The tug boat PIONEER was using one radar and the watch officer was using various scales between 3 and 12 miles. The other radar was not functioning at the time of the event. PIONEER had no AIS device because the size of the vessel is below 300 GRT. The fog signal device was not functional. The VHF and the navigation lights of the vessel were operational at the time of the event.

Onboard neither vessel was the master called to the bridge although the visibility was poor.

After KRISTINA REGINA arrived in Helsinki, it turned out that the voyage data recorder of the vessel, VDR, had not recorded any information after 16 December 2006. Assistance in the investigation was obtained from the Swedish, Danish, German and British maritime investigation authorities.

The tug boat and barge combination had no AIS device; noticing the combination was only based on a radar echo or a visual observation. According to the provisions, a vessel exceeding 300 GT has to have AIS equipment. However, the requirement does not concern a barge combination, only a vessel. When the tug boat is under 300 GRT, the combination need not be equipped with an AIS device even if the combination were tenfold compared to that required. A mistake has been made when creating the provision. It has not been known that this type of combinations may make poor radar targets.

The investigators recommend that the Finnish Maritime Administration undertake measures to make the AIS requirement concern all vessel combinations exceeding 300 GT.

C1/2007M Report (pdf, 1.24 Mt)