NTSB encourages use of radar reflectors to avoid collisions
As a result of the investigation, the NTSB recommended the Coast Guard install voyage data recorders or equivalent capabilities on its cutter fleet
The fatal collision between the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Winslow Griesser and a small boat off the coast of Puerto Rico last year resulted from the failure of either vessel to maintain a proper lookout, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in its news release.
Maintaining a proper lookout, by sight and sound, is a fundamental rule of the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collision at Sea for vessels. NTSB investigators found that the bridge crew on the Winslow Griesser was not aware they had hit anything until a crewmember saw the center-console boat’s wreckage floating down the side of the cutter.
As a result of the investigation, the NTSB recommended the Coast Guard install voyage data recorders or equivalent capabilities on its cutter fleet. Electronic vessel data and bridge audio would have given investigators additional information on the collision. The NTSB also issued a safety alert encouraging owners of recreational boats and small commercial fishing vessels to install radar reflectors and use simplified automatic identification system transponders to improve their vessels’ detectability.
On Aug. 8, 2022, the cutter Winslow Griesser and the center-console boat Desakata collided about four miles off the northern coast of Puerto Rico. The cutter, with a crew of 21, was traveling westward along the coast. The 23-foot boat, with two aboard, was heading northbound. As a result of the collision, one Desakata crewmember was killed and the other seriously injured. The boat was declared a total loss of $58,800.
Leading up to the collision, neither vessel’s crew saw the other vessel, despite having the opportunity to do so. Neither crewmember on the Desakata was maintaining a lookout, as both were focused on fishing. And no crewmember aboard the cutter was designated solely as a lookout with no other duties. Coast Guard practice is that all members of the bridge watch are responsible for shared lookout duties. Investigators determined no one was maintaining a lookout at the time of the collision.
Contributing factors, investigators said, included the failure of the Winslow Griesser’s commanding officer and officer of the deck to take sufficient measures to increase situational awareness while the cutter was traveling at a high speed.
During the investigation, several crewmembers of the Winslow Griesser declined to speak with NTSB investigators. If the Winslow Griesser had been equipped with a voyage data recorder, or VDR, the additional data and audio could help identify safety issues, resulting in safety improvements.