SEATRUCK PERFORMANCE

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Report in grounding accident published

On Feb 7, 2020, the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) published its final report on the grounding of the 'Seatruck Performance' on May 8, 2019. It determined that shallow water effects - squat and bow cushion - were a contributing factor. At 10.45 p.m. that day the vessel grounded while transiting the Greenore Channel in Carlingford Lough, Northern Ireland. The incident occurred shortly after departing Warrenpoint on a voyage to Heysham, England. During a series of manual course corrections near the No. 21 buoy, the master initiated a turn to starboard too late, and the vessel strayed towards the north side of the channel and struck an underwater rock outcropping. After the grounding, the ferry quickly developed a seven degree list, but steering and propulsion were not affected. The vessel was able to return to Warrenpoint without assistance. There were no injuries to the 11 passengers and 22 crew aboard, and there was no pollution reported. The grounding caused damages to the plating on the bottom of the hull, including a 30-foot-long tear along the port side. A subsequent survey and dry docking found that a tank and a void space had been breached. Broken pieces of granite were found inside of the tanks. The vessel was out of service for three weeks for repairs. An investigation by MAIB found that the crew was not in the habit of taking squat into account when calculating under-keel clearance (UKC) for departure from Greenock. The MAIB concluded that the ferry grounded as a result of its heading being altered later than intended. In addition, the investigation found that Bow-cushion and other shallow water effects were experienced as the ferry approached the intended turn, which affected heading and speed.

Grounding off Warrenpoint

The "Seatruck Performance", en route from Warrenpoint to Heysham, ran aground in position 54 01 34 N, 006 06 38 W, at the entrance to Carlingford Lough, on May , 2019, at 10.45 p.m. The vessel was refloated and returned to Warrenpoint with signs of water in void space number four and three, and was listing to port side. The ship berthed in Warrenpoint at 11.40 p.m. and detained until the damaged area has been inspected with subject to assessment by the attending classification society and the Isle of Man authority. The harbour master requested a dive team to inspect the underwater areas of the hull. The ship arrived at Belfast and was dry docked, on 11 May.