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Report: COVID 19 infection blamed for fatigue which caused allision
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has published an investigation report into an incident where the captain fell asleep while navigating the 'Schweiger' and allidind with the USCG Station Cape Disappointment docks on Sep 11, 2024. The tug was transiting the Baker Bay West Channel near Ilwaco, Washington, when the accudent happened at 12.36 lop.m. LT, after it veered out of the channel. There were no injuries. About 20 gallons of diesel fuel spilled into the waterway as a result of the contact. TDamage to the station infrastructure was estimated to exceed $750,000. The vessel’s AIS track showed a deliberate course change from the 306˚ leg to the 284˚ leg on the red side of the Baker Bay West Channel about 1233:47, indicating the captain was still alert at the time. At 12.35:12, p.m. the tug began moving to port and crossed the channel. At 12.36 p.m. the rate of turn to port increased, resulting in the vessel contacting the Coast Guard docks about 30 seconds later. The captain reported that he fell asleep before the contact, while the vessel moved across and then out of the channel. Therefore, the captain likely fell asleep about 1 to 3 minutes before the contact, sometime between 12:35:12 and 12:36:25 p.m. Later in the day after the contact, the captain learned that he had COVID-19 and a collapsed lung. Suddenly falling asleep without warning has not been described as a typical feature of COVID-19, but tiredness is a common effect of COVID-19. People with acute COVID-19 also may sometimes experience syncope (which is fainting, not sleeping). Therefore, as the captain was acutely symptomatic with confirmed COVID-19 at the time of the vessel’s transit, it was likely he was experiencing the effects of an acute COVID-19 coronavirus infection while operating the vessel. While the captain reported getting sufficient sleep in the two days before the accident, his sleep quality was likely poor, given the effects of acute COVID-19. This poor sleep quality would have resulted in increased levels of fatigue on the day of the contact and increased the likelihood of the captain falling asleep while navigating the vessel. The captain reported taking several tablets of ivermectin, which is a prescription medication commonly used to treat parasitic infections in humans and animals. Ivermectin was proposed early in the COVID-19 pandemic as an alternative therapy for prevention and treatment of COVID-19 infections but was subsequently found to be ineffective for this purpose, with significant potential for adverse side effects. Department of Transportation postaccident testing did not test for ivermectin, so investigators could not confirm whether the medication the captain took was, in fact, ivermectin. Given his illness and the prescribed and unprescribed medication he took, it cannot be ruled out that he may have suffered a sudden medical incapacitation, which resulted in him becoming incapacitated prior to the contact. The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause of the allision was the captain falling asleep while navigating the vessel, likely due to increased fatigue caused by an acute COVID-19 coronavirus infection. Report with link to full investigation rep: https://safety4sea.com/ntsb-investigation-towing-vessel-hits-uscg-dock-after-captain-falls-asleep/
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