Fatigue to blame in Nunavut fuel tanker incident

Transportation Safety Board investigators say the Nanny’s crew lacked sleep leading up to the Oct. 14, 2014 incident, when the vessel went aground near Chesterfield Inlet. (PHOTO COURTESY OF THE TSB)

A Transportation Safety Board of Canada investigation has found that fatigue was largely to blame when a fuel tanker ran aground outside of Chesterfield Inlet in October 2014.

The tanker Nanny, owned by Coastal Shipping Ltd., had just delivered fuel to the community of Baker Lake and was travelling through the narrow inlet Oct. 14 when the vessel’s master ordered a turn to port, or a left-hand change of course.

Transiting the inlet on a vessel of the Nanny’s size, at 110 metres, requires making over 50 course alterations. It was dark at the time, with just a small crew on shift, including the tanker’s master and helmsman.

In responding to the master’s order, however, the helmsman turned starboard instead (towards the right.)

Next, the TSB said the master continued to ask for the port rudder without re-evaluating the situation.

By the time the vessel’s helmsman corrected the direction, the Nanny had touched bottom at Deer Island.

TSB investigators now say the master and helmsman both lacked sleep leading up to the incident, due to “ineffective fatigue management.”

There were no injuries or pollution as a result of the ground, although the vessel sustained damage to its ballast tanks, including a crack that allowed some water in.

The engines and the bow thrusters were used to manoeuvre the vessel back into the channel.The Nanny was authorized to continue its voyage and discharge its cargo before returning to dock in St. John’s for repair.

Despite having a certified and audited safety management system, the TSB investigation found a number of shortcomings in how that system was implemented.

In its report, released March 15, the board calls on Transport Canada to implement regulations requiring all operators in the marine industry to implement formal safety management processes, and to oversee those processes.

Following the incident, the Nanny’s operator put in place crew training on fatigue and new procedures for navigating in confined waters.

But the Nanny isn’t alone: since 2007, four vessels have run aground in Chesterfield Inlet, including the Nanny in 2012.

Two years earlier, in September 2010, the Nanny hit bottom on its eastern approach to the Simpson Strait near Gjoa Haven.

This Transportation Safety Board map shows the spot along the Chesterfield Narrows where the tanker Nanny ran aground in October 2014. (IMAGE COURTESY OF THE TSB)