Fatigue and Fault: The Yochow Allision

In The Yochow [2024], the helmsman made two steering errors in quick succession while under pilotage. The second error resulted in a collision with a barge and dock, causing losses exceeding $30 million. Could these errors suggest fatigue, poor auditing practices, and overall management issues, potentially preventing the limitation of the claim to under $18 million?

On the bridge were the Pilot, Second Officer, and helmsman, with the Master present intermittently but not in command. The first steering error occurred when the pilot ordered "Port 20," but the helmsman set the rudder to "Starboard 20." This was corrected within seconds. About an hour and a half later, the helmsman set the helm to "hard port" instead of "hard starboard," leading to the collision. The barge and dock owners contended that both the helmsman and the Master were fatigued. They highlighted that the Safety Management System (SMS) did not address fatigue management, there was no job rotation policy to mitigate fatigue from repetitive tasks as recommended by IMO in MSC/Circ.1014, and the manager's auditing practices were inadequate.

A US Court in Texas determined that:

• The Manager’s SMS met industry standards and was not deficient.

• Comprehensive auditing by the Managers would not have altered the circumstances leading to the allision, and cannot be a basis for finding knowledge or privity of owners.

• Although the helmsman made an error, it was not attributed to fatigue. The pilot also noted that such steering errors were not uncommon.

• Even if the Master had been on the bridge, they could not have prevented the incident and would have acted similarly to the pilot and Second Officer by correcting the helm order.

• Lastly, despite some inconsistencies in the crew's work-rest hour records, they complied with STCW regulations.

The owner was therefore entitled to limit their liability to the value of the vessel plus pending freight, totalling just over $18 million.

LinkedIn post:https://www.linkedin.com/posts/siddharthmahajan18_maritimelaw-activity-7261229304288563201-gC4d?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

Link to judgement: https://casetext.com/case/osg-243-llc-v-yochow-in-re-grand-famous-shipping-ltd?q=%22CLASSIFICATION%20SOCIETY%22&sort=date-descending&p=1&type=case&tab=keyword&jxs=

Link to NTSB's investigation report: https://safety4sea.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/NTSB-Collision-of-Bulk-Carrier-Yochow-with-Articulated-Tug-and-Barge-OSG-IndependenceOSG-243-2019_05.pdf