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Pilot involved in Ever Forward’s Chesapeake Bay grounding suspended

The operating license of the Ever Forward pilot who steered the containership into the muddy bottom of the Chesapeake Bay this spring has been suspended, according to the Maryland Department of Labor, citing his excessive use of his mobile phone at the time.

The ship was finally freed in mid-April, more than a month after it ran aground.

“For approximately half of the two-hour transit, the pilot on board the container ship placed and received numerous calls, texted messages, and draft emails on their personal cell phone right up until the incident,” a report from the US Coast Guard stated.

Additionally, the pilot relied solely on its portable pilot unit for navigation and was watching playback of a previous transit at the time of the incident. The pilot was drafting an email on his personal mobile phone in the minutes leading up to the planned turn south, when the vessel sailed through its waypoint and grounded. The vessel’s bridge team attempted to cue the pilot by repeating the heading. However, by the time the bridge team became more assertive about the ship’s heading, it was too late to prevent the vessel from grounding.

The Ever Forward was refloated on April 17 this year after being stuck in the mud in Chesapeake Bay for more than a month. A high tide, along with a month’s worth of work – dredging around the ship and removing 505 containers – finally brought success to the effort.

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.

Comments

  1. The mobile cell phone abuse/ usage of Pilots is a big problem, not only in US, but in general. Pilots in US have a tendency to be arrogant and non-touchable. If you attempt to take them off, then you get threatened with big delays, loss of turn, and so on. Not a popular thing within a company, with possible charter offhire. Then if you as a Captain do such twice in a few years, your Job is on the line. “Why did you do this, nothing happen” and so on –

    Please comments on possible solution or suggestions to above.

  2. The salvage costs of the refloating must have been massive. Yes, mostly insured, but a ‘black eye’ for Evergreen’s reputation and loss record. Preventing recurrence requires a dramatic mindset change from the current pilot and master/bridge team hierarchal relationship. Not impossible but very difficult. Carnival Cruises have ‘borrowed’ an airline industry Navigator (pilot) and Co-Navigator (master/bridge team) system which focuses on roles, not ranks. It obligates full communication of Navigator intentions and mandates immediate challenge by the Co-Navigator if there is a deviation from the passage plan. Many will scoff but, as a former shipmaster and pilot, I believe the ‘Carnival system’ should be considered the future. https://www.gard.no/Content/20861802/Article%20Gard_CSMART_Hederstrom.pdf

  3. On April 27, 2021, same pilot was involved in the grounding of the motor vessel TIRRANNA, a 760-foot long, Roll-on Roll-off cargo ship in the vicinity of York Spit Channel in the Chesapeake Bay. The Coast Guard Incident Investigation Activity (IIA #: 7184634), completed by Sector Virginia, determined the initiating event was the failure of the steering control relay. This was followed by the eventual loss of steering and vessel grounding.”

    Tough year for this guy.

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