Real Life Incident: Fatigue Contributes to Catastrophe
Tanker A was underway in a traffic separation scheme (TSS) in good weather and with visibility of about 10 to 12 nautical miles (nm). At approximately 0224, the Master handed over the con and navigational watch to the OOW but remained on the bridge. The OOW on duty had joined the vessel the day before, and this was his first watch.
At about 0430, satisfied with the OOW’s familiarity with the vessel and the situation, the Master left the bridge. About 30 minutes later, the vessel was transiting a high-density traffic route and approaching a planned waypoint, which required a course alteration to port of about 50 degrees. The OOW delayed the course alteration to allow a ship on a reciprocal course to pass. Once the ship had cleared, the OOW instructed the lookout to switch to manual…