TSB: Poor pilot exchange, bank suction may have led to St Lawrence Seaway grounding

摘要

Failure to inform a pilot that the steering stand was offset from the centerline and insufficient channel lighting were among the risk factors when a cargo ship ran aground in Montreal in 2011, Canadian investigators said. The grounding of the multipurpose cargo vessel BBC Steinhoeft on March 31, 2011, closed the St. Lawrence Seaway for 10 hours. The 453-foot ship was downbound under the control of a pilot when it got wedged sideways in the South Shore Canal, downstream of St. Lambert Lock at 0309. In a recent investigative report, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) said the crew failed to control the ship after it experienced bank suction. The TSB determined that there were numerous causes and contributing factors to the grounding.