NTSB Cites Fatigue As Probable Cause Of Allision
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released details of its investigation into the September 12, 2023, allision between the mv. John 3:16 and an industrial cargo pier on the Lower Mississippi River near Saint Rose, La. The allision, which occurred on the left descending bank near Mile 118, took place at around 6:41 a.m. when the vessel was northbound and traveling light boat. The total cost of repairs to the mv. John 3:16 and the pier was $285,441.
The mv. John 3:16, part of Marquette Transportation’s Gulf-Inland division, was en route to a barge fleet near Mile 143. At the time of the allision, a pilot and two deckhands were just over halfway through their midnight-to-noon watch. According to the NTSB report, the John 3:16 got underway from Mile 112 at about 5:48 a.m., traveling northbound at 6 to 7 knots. About seven minutes later, an on-watch deckhand brought the pilot some breakfast. The deckhand told NTSB investigators that he “took him some cinnamon rolls and milk upstairs” and noted that the pilot “looked normal.”
According to the NTSB report, the pilot relayed to investigators “the last thing that he remembered before the contact was passing another towing vessel, the Okaloosa, at 0636.” Four minutes later, AIS data and the John 3:16’s electronic chart system captured the vessel beginning a turn to starboard. NTSB reported that, at 6:41 a.m. and 42 seconds, the John 3:16 hit the pier traveling at 6 knots, “damaging the starboard side of the vessel’s wheelhouse.” Video footage from the pier captured the John 3:16’s wheel wash stopping after about 10 seconds, with the vessel beginning to back away from the pier about 10 seconds after that, according to the NTSB report.
The pilot, according to the NTSB report, notified the company’s port captain and “told the port captain that he fell asleep.” The pier owner notified the U.S. Coast Guard at about 7:30 a.m. The John 3:16 later transited unassisted to a shipyard. In the end, the John 3:16 incurred about $89,000 in damages, while the pier’s repair cost totaled $196,441.
The NTSB focused on the pilot’s sleep schedule as a likely cause for falling asleep at the sticks. The crew aboard the John 3:16 worked 12-hour watches, with the pilot and the two deckhands on watch from midnight to noon. According to the report, the pilot “typically received five hours of sleep during each 12-hour off-watch period.” The pilot said he also sleeps about five hours a night when at home.
After the allision, the pilot wrote a “work/rest report detailing his hours of sleep and awake time in the four days before the casualty,” NTSB said. According to the pilot, he slept about seven hours on September 8, five hours on September 9, three hours on September 10 and three hours on September 11. Taking the pilot’s cell phone use into consideration, though, “NTSB investigators concluded the pilot had less than two hours of continuous sleep before taking the watch, and likely received less than five hours of sleep combined over the two days before striking the pier.”
NTSB, in its analysis of the incident, noted that “individuals typically require seven to eight hours of sleep in each 24-hour period to avoid the negative performance effects of fatigue.” Thus, the pilot had incurred “an acute sleep debt” in the two days prior to the allision, “which resulted in the pilot falling asleep while on watch, leading to the vessel’s contact with the pier,” NTSB stated. The pilot’s cell phone use while off watch contributed to that sleep debt, according to NTSB.
In its lessons learned section, NTSB said fatigue is often a factor in incidents the agency investigates. Fatigue impacts decision-making, alertness and reaction time, “all of which affect a mariner’s ability to safely navigate a vessel,” the report stated. Quality, uninterrupted sleep, typically eight hours within a 24-hour period, is needed “to avoid the performance effects of fatigue,” according to NTSB.
