A technical glitch on board an £18.5million offshore vessel caused a three-ship collision at Aberdeen harbour, an accident report said yesterday.
Earlier this year, the SBS Typhoon, a 243ft, 3,660-tonne vessel owned by Aberdeen-based SBS Marine, struck the Vos Scout head-on, forcing her into the Ocean Searcher.
Vos Scout, a 137ft emergency and rescue ship, was extensively damaged during the incident at Trinity Quay on February 26.
An onlooker filmed the incident, which was uploaded to YouTube.
SBS Marine managing director Nigel Taylor said the controls were all manned at the time of the incident.
In a report published yesterday from the Marine Accident Investigation Branch, it confirmed a malfunction was to blame.
The crew had been testing a new dynamic positioning system – which allows a vessel to stay in one place without using anchors – that had newly been fitted by Norwegian contractors Kongsberg.
A fault in the new system caused the propellers on the left and right-hand sides to be turned fully on, causing the ship to move along the quay.
The error had not been spotted during pre-trial checks, and actions taken by the crew on board to limit the damage were then hampered by a switch not being in the correct position. The MAIB also concluded that “no consideration” had been given by either party to the risks of connecting an “unproven” control system and no effective risk assessments had been imposed.
It said “no one person” had been in charge which put the Kongsberg technician and the ship’s crew in a “vulnerable” position.
“Weak communications,” it added, had left the crew isolated from the planning process which “adversely affected preparedness”.
However, the MAIB ruled that sufficient action had been taken by both SBS Marine and the contractor since the incident, and as a result had made no safety recommendations.
Mr Taylor said: “We worked closely with the MAIB during its investigation and have already implemented relevant actions.
“As the report also notes, in view of actions taken to prevent a recurrence, no recommendations have been made by the branch.”