Accidents and incidents
A fire broke out on the Commodore Clipper's lower vehicle deck in the early hours of 16 June 2010 whilst it was travelling from Jersey to Portsmouth. The fire was the result of an electrical fault in a freight truck loaded with potatoes. Combining factors including potatoes from the damaged freight truck blocking onboard drains, preventing water from the drench system from draining, resulted in the ferry listing to its port side for an extended period of time. 62 passengers were stranded on board the ferry for around 20 hours. Eventually, all passengers safely disembarked the ferry once it arrived in Portsmouth, with the truck pulled out of the ferry and the fire was shortly put out. Significant damage was done to the truck and other freight trailers, as well as heat damage to a small area of the lower vehicle deck and also the failure of some onboard systems. [3] It is said that the severity of the fire was increased by the electrical breakers not tripping when they should have. [4]
On 14 July 2014, the Commodore Clipper became grounded on the Little Roussel, a channel between Herm and Guernsey. The cause of the incident was found to be poor planning by the crew on board, who had failed to take an unusually low tide into consideration. [5]
The key findings of an investigation by Marine Accident Investigation Branch were: [5]
- There had not been enough planning for the trip – in part because the repetitive nature of the schedule had led to "complacency".
- The crew refused to acknowledge that the ship might have grounded, partly because the alarms that could have told them it had been disabled
- Insufficient passage planning meant that the bridge team headed into danger without appreciation of the navigational risk. The planning issues not properly considered were: the very low tide, the effect of the ship 'squatting' in shallow water at high speed and the accuracy of the chart data.
- The possibility that the vessel had grounded was denied. In the circumstances of a shuddering vibration, it is important that the crew establish the state of their vessel by searching for damage.
- The repetitive nature of ferry operations can induce a degree of complacency when planning.
- The electronic navigation system was not being utilised effectively because safety settings were not appropriate to the local conditions, warnings were ignored and the audible alarm was disabled.
- As the responsible authority, Guernsey Harbours did not have an effective risk assessment or safety management plan for the conduct of navigation in its statutory pilotage area.
Condor Ferries said it entirely accepted the findings of the detailed and thorough report.
The vessel was taken out of service for several weeks and was repaired in Falmouth. It returned to service on 27 August of the same year. [6]
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Bahamas [1] 