The National Transportation Safety Board says fatigue caused the grounding of the World Prodigy tanker in Narragansett Bay in June 1989.
The tanker struck on a reef near Newport, R.I., while traveling at 4-6 knots, spilling 10,000 bbl of No. 2 fuel oil (OGJ, July 3, 1989, p. 22). Ballard Shipping Co., the tanker's owner, was fined $510,000 for the spill.
NTSB said the captain, Iakovos Georgudis, was exhausted after 36 hr without rest and became distracted with paperwork, allowing the chief officer to leave the bridge.
It said had a qualified deck watch officer been present, he could have averted the accident with a sharp turn or a reversal of the ship's engines.
NTSB also said there was a communications breakdown regarding where a harbor pilot would board the tanker.
The agency recommended that the Rhode Island State Pilotage Commission ensure that pilots board and disembark all vessels south of Brenton Reef light.
The report also said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration should revise its Narragansett Bay maps to include the northern end of the bay.
NTSB said, "Had the World Prodigy been constructed with a double bottom or as a double hulled vessel, the spillage of oil probably would not have occurred."
Separately, NOAA said the companies involved in a 700,000 gal jet fuel spill in Galveston Bay July 28 will Pay $156,000 for a study of how the spill affected the bay's shrimp fisheries and marshes.
The accident occurred when the Greek tanker Shinoussa collided with two of three barges another vessel was towing in the Houston Ship Channel.
Copyright 1990 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.
