The records of the MT Tradewind Passion which crashed into the Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB) earlier this month may have been tampered with, according to the findings of the Board of Inquiry.
“Major inconsistencies were found with the pilot and master of exchange of information as (the) bell book had entries of such information as well as the preparation of a pilot card but the pilot did not sign such a card. This suggests tampering of ship’s records subsequent to the allision (the running of one ship upon another ship that is stationary),” the report stated.
In addition, the ship‘s bell book records for October 8, 2022 varies from the VDR hardware which was retrieved from the ship’s bridge. According to the report, the crew members initially refused to hand over information to members of the Board, however, when they decided to cooperate it was found that a scrap book was kept on board the ship during transit which was later transcribed into the bell book.
“This strongly suggest that there was tampering of the records,” says the report.
Additionally, the report said that both the contracted pilot, Kenneth Cort, and the Master of the Trade-wind Passion were known to have arrogant dispositions and were often times difficult to communicate with but no disciplinary actions were ever taken against them. When the collision happened, there was no clear and direct path of communication on the vessel’s bridge as the inquiry found that several persons were giving commands at the same time, resulting in chaos. The captain also did not assume command over the vessel in a timely manner.
The Tradewind Passion was also not equipped with a Bow Thruster which could have enhanced the maneuverability of the vessel thereby steering it away from the DHB or alternatively reducing the impact of the allision.
It was also found that the Captain and team overly relied on the direction of the River Pilot, even though the vessel was out of the channel and this resulted in the captain attempting to manoeuvre the vessel from a point of no return, and that both the pilot and captain failed to effectively utilize all navigation tools, for the safe manoeuvring of the vessel.
Although the passage plan provided adequate information for safe navigation, it was not properly executed, according to the report.
The cause of the allision of the ship with the bridge could’ve been due to the bridge team’s exclusive reliance on Cort’s incorrect navigational direction; the team total reliance on looking at the Harbour Bridge and disregarding the alarms of electronic equipment on the vessel as it approached the bridge; and failure to use all available navigation tools to verify the safety of the vessel’s course.
