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MAIIB published report into towline failure
The Marine Accident Investigation Branch has published its investigation report into the failure of a towline on board the 'Svitzer Avon' on Feb 4, 2025, while the tug was assisting the vehicles carrier 'Auto Eco' (IMO: 9736365) to Bristol in the approach to the Royal Portbury dock in Avonmouth. At approximately 7.54 op.m. the tug, along with the 'Svitzer Brunel', left the lock at Royal Portbury Dock, Bristol, to meet the car carrier in the King Road approaches to the lock. The 'Auto Eco'had a pilot embarked for the entry into port and was to employ both tugs for a ship assist move into the lock and onwards to a berth in the dock. Following an agreement made before the departure, the 'Svitzer Avon'’s relief master was supervising the mate, who was at the vessel’s controls for the move. The relief master was type qualified for the tug, but had little experience on the 'Svitzer Avon'.At 8.03 p.m., the tug was in position astern of the car carrier. The tug’s crew passed the towline, consisting of a tow rope and pennant joined with a cow hitch via a heaving line and messenger rope, to the 'Auto Eco'’s mooring deck, where it was then made fast to a bollard. Having passed through the tug’s forward staple, the tow rope was held by the tug’s winch brake. Although fitted, a render system was not used. At 8.09 p.m., the pilot called the 'Svitzer Brunel' and requested the tug to standby on the port bow, followed shortly afterwards by the instruction “25% straight back” to the 'Svitzer Avon'. At 8.11 p.m., an overcorrection in handling occurred, as the 'Auto Eco' was turning to line up for an approach to the lock, and the 'Svitzer Avon' was manoeuvring to hold position astern, causing the 'Svitzer Avon' to shear and heel. The tow rope parted under the increased load experienced during the recovery manoeuvre.The tow rope recoiled, struck the tug’s wheelhouse and shattered the forward windscreen glazing. Debris also caused the stern window to shatter. Flying glass caused minor injuries to the tug’s master and mate. After checking each other for serious injury, the tug’s crew quickly changed tasking with the bow tug to complete the move. Once the 'Auto Eco' was secured at the berth, the 'Svitzer Avon' returned to port and was met by a medical team. The master and mate were transferred to hospital, treated for their minor injuries and later discharged. Findings Ø The relief master was not authorised to supervise the mate during the move.Ø The towage company’s training regime was not clearly defined or closely monitored. Ø The tow rope had previously parted in July 2024 after 800 tasks and had been changed end-to-end[footnote 1]. The tow rope subsequently parted on its 307th task due to the excessive towline assembly loading experienced during an overcorrection in a shiphandling manoeuvre. Ø The towage company relied on visual inspection and tow rope rotation for towline risk management. The company did not follow best practice nor conduct residual strength testing on parted ropes or as part of its towline risk management system. Ø The wheelhouse glazing met the appropriate standard. Ø The MAIB investigated a similar accident involving SVITZER MERCURIUS in 2019 (MAIB report 15/2022[footnote 2]), resulting in a recommendation 2022/138 to Svitzer Marine Limited to: Undertake a fleetwide risk assessment to determine the level of risk associated with towline failure and snapback and the potential for impact by a line recoiling into wheelhouse windows, and, where appropriate, employ appropriate laminated glass or other defences to mitigate against the risk of flying glass injuring its tug crews. Svitzer Marine Limited has: Ø formalised the designations of training masters and introduced a ‘trainers pathway’ and ‘training groups’ to standardise training practices across UK regions Ø introduced a type rating framework of formalised training requirements for different vessel classes Ø reviewed rope parting incidents and assessed impacts across the business Ø ensured rope selection and usage aligns with operational risk. The Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents has written to the managing director of Svitzer Marine Ltd., expressing concern that the towline failure has become normalised and that, consequently, the associated risks are not being mitigated. Further, the chief inspector has urged the company to reconsider its actions in response to MAIB Recommendation 2022/138 and implement measures to both minimise towline failures and mitigate the risk of crew injury should a towline part.In light of some of the actions taken and MAIB Recommendation 2022/138, which remained open, the investigation into this accident has been closed.
Snapping towline injured two crew members
On Feb 23, 2025, the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) started investigating the failure of a towline on board the 'Svitzer Avon' on Feb 4, while the tug was assisting the vehicles carrier 'Auto Eco' (IMO: 9736365) to Bristol in the approach to Royal Portbury dock, Avonmouth, The failure and the resulting lashing back of the line damaged the wheelhouse on the' Svitzer Avon' and injured two tug crew members. The 'Auto Eco' left Bristol again on Feb 5 en route to Zeebrugge.
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