On 6 December from Baltimore the US Coast Guard Sector Maryland-National Capitol Region reported that it had completed its marine casualty investigation into the 13 March, 2022, grounding of the container ship Ever Forward in the Craighill Channel, off Maryland, East Coast of the United States. The 1,095ft loa Ever Forward, a Hong Kong-flagged vessel grounded while on passage with 4,964 containers aboard, from the Port of Baltimore to Norfolk, Virginia.
Causal factors
The Report of the Investigation determined the incident’s causal factors to be the pilot’s failure to maintain situational awareness and attention while navigating, and inadequate bridge resource management.
Immediately following the grounding, Coast Guard marine investigators began the investigation to determine the factors that led to the Ever Forward grounding and develop recommendations to prevent similar marine incidents from happening in the future.
Use of cell phones
Based on the finding of facts, the Coast Guard is recommending that marine operators develop and implement effective policies outlining when the use of cell phones and other portable electronic devices is appropriate or prohibited, and that vessel owners and operators ensure and promote crew awareness of policies regarding the duties and obligations of officers on watch for the safety of the ship, even when a pilot is embarked.
The USCG report into the grounding is to be found here:
The Coast Guard has published two Findings of Concern and has made them publicly available at the Coast Guard’s Inspections and Compliance Findings of Concern webpage here:
The purpose of Findings of Concern is to share information related to unsafe conditions to the public, state, or local agencies.
The Coast Guard was the lead agency for all evidence collection activities involving the investigation. The Maryland Department of Labor, Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing, conducted an independent investigation, with access to evidence collected by the Coast Guard.
Under a Unified Command consisting of the US Coast Guard, Maryland Department of the Environment, and Evergreen Marine Corporation, a comprehensive salvage plan to free the ship was developed and implemented, including dredging and towing operations, which freed Ever Forward on 17April 2022.
Illustrations reproduced by kind provision of USCG Public Affairs©.
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