MAIB completes preliminary assessment of near miss between cruise ship, Ro-Ro off Harwich

The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has completed its preliminary assessment of a close quarters, near miss between the Norwegian-flagged cruise vessel Maud and the Lithuanian-flagged Ro-Ro ferry Gardenia Seaways on November 4, 2021.

At about 02:30 local time on the said date, the two vessels passed each other at an approximate distance of 130 metres in the vicinity of the North Shipwash Buoy, to the north of Harwich Haven Authority jurisdictional limits.

The outbound Maud had earlier signalled its intention to pass the inbound Gardenia Seaways port to port, but Maud passed closely ahead of Gardenia Seaways despite several warning broadcasts from Harwich Vessel Traffic Services (VTS).

The MAIB said neither master was on the bridge at the time and actions from the watchkeepers on both vessels contributed to a dangerous situation developing in an area well-known for traffic conflicts.

As a result of the MAIB’s preliminary assessment, the Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents has written to Hurtigruten Expeditions and DFDS Seaways (Lithuania) advising them of the safety issues identified and highlighting his concern about the conduct of navigation on both vessels.

The Chief Inspector has also written to Harwich Haven Authority and advised it to undertake a traffic assessment in consultation with Trinity House and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) to identify routing or procedural measures that will help deconflict traffic in the area.

The MAIB said Hurtigruten Expeditions and DFDS Seaways (Lithuania) have meanwhile taken internal measures to capture the lessons learned from this near miss and improve standards of watchkeeping throughout their fleets. Hurtigruten Expeditions has also increased Maud‘s complement of officers to allow for additional watchkeepers in areas that involve increased levels of navigational awareness.