Crew of ferry which ran aground off Aberdeen 'not fully-prepared'

The hull of the vessel was badly damaged in the incident

The crew of a freight ferry which ran aground off Aberdeen were not fully prepared to navigate in restricted visibility, an investigation has found.

The Arrow ran into difficulties at the entrance to Aberdeen harbour, while under pilotage in thick fog, on 25 June last year.

A tug helped refloat the ferry, which suffered significant hull damage.

No safety recommendations were made in the Marine Accidents Investigation Branch's report into the incident.

The Arrow was operated by Seatruck at the time, on charter to Serco Northlink.

Seatruck said it accepted the report's findings and had taken action to improve procedures.

Serco Northlink declined to comment.

The report said that Seatruck had revised its safety management procedure for navigating under pilotage.

Restricted visibility

The ferry had entered the navigation channel off Aberdeen at about 07:30 on its arrival from Lerwick.

The report said that with limited support from the bridge team on board, the pilot became overloaded, and over-corrected his course.

This was not noticed in time to avoid the vessel grounding.

The report said the bridge team was not fully prepared for pilotage in restricted visibility, and were critical of the navigation techniques used.

It also said poor ergonomics and electronic chart systems on the bridge meant the pilot had to navigate using radar alone.