A mariner who photographed what he thought was an illegal and dangerous manoeuvre involving two container ships outside the Port of Tauranga didn't know about a local rule.
He took a photo of two ships passing starboard to starboard when they are normally supposed to pass port to port. That's right-to-right instead of left-to-left.
A rare photo of starboard to starboard passing.
The photo of the alleged close encounter was passed to Port of Tauranga operations manager Nigel Drake, who sent back a copy of the Bay of Plenty Regional Navigation Safety Bylaw 2010, Schedule 8:
Navigation in the Area of No. 1 Reach.
b) Vessels shall keep to their starboard side of the channel in No. 1 Reach, except that:
Notwithstanding the International Regulations for preventing collisions at sea, and New Zealand Maritime Rules Part 22 Collision Prevention, vessels navigating in the area of No. 1 Reach of the dredged channel contained between a line drawn 270 degrees True from North Rock Light and a line drawn 090 degrees True from A Beacon, may pass starboard to starboard in that part of No. 1 Reach provided prior arrangements have been made by the Pilots and/or Exempt Masters of such vessels. In such cases, prior radio communications shall be established and maintained by the Pilots and/or Exempt Masters undertaking such manoeuvres.
This rule means the photographed manoeuvre is legal.
'The two vessels in the photograph did pass starboard to starboard in No 1 Reach,” says Nigel.
'This was carried out in a safe manner with all the requirements of the Bylaw met.
'The passing distance was safe and the weather conditions were suitable for such a manoeuvre to be considered.
'The photo has been taken with a telephoto lens by the look of it, making the vessels appear closer than they actually were.
'I can verify that this was the case as I was the pilot on the outward bound vessel.”
It's a Port of Tauranga practice that has been in effect for a decade or two.
It's because ships coming in from the roadstead are already on the port side of the channel in No 1 Reach, and departing ships are more often than not heading north, also on the port side of the channel.
Turning across the channel to position each ship in the correct side of the channel in the circumstances would be an unsafe move.
4 comments
i watched this
Posted on 01-03-2012 13:21 | By Capt_Kaveman
from up the mount and seen the distance between them which for what i saw looked fine and safe, outbound ship was just idling out staying in a straight line while the incoming ship to the east was at speed and was well away from the outgoing ship for when it was far enough out the income ship then lined itself up for the entrance, look good and simple
Only in NZ
Posted on 02-03-2012 09:32 | By captainbirdseye
So what about all other vessels that are sticking to and brought up to use International collision regs, passing port to port, these things only work if every vessel is on the same page, not just a select few pilots who choose to save time just like Rena did. If a ship does the opposite to every other vessel using Tauranga Harbour an accident is bound to happen one day, I suppose the Rena had a special rule allowing it to ignore the 8 mile exclusion zone for ships around the North end of Motiti so it would not be late for the tugs and time slot with Ports of Tauranga. I saw this happen too, and both ships passed far to close for comfort, good job there wasnt another vessel who WAS sticking to normal rules of the road at sea!!!
Keep it in check.
Posted on 02-03-2012 10:06 | By Surfwatch
If we had a disaster in the harbour, and had a big oil spill, it would take decades to clean up. We would not have the advantage of open sea to help dissipate the damage. Doesnt hurt to be vigilant.
What a load of bull
Posted on 02-03-2012 11:20 | By captainbirdseye
What would happen if a special bylaw that none of the general public knew about, that you could drive a vehicle up the wrong side of state highway 2 when it suits you because your a pilot, thats bullshit All vessels except this select few stick to the rules of the road which clearly state passing port to port. For two large ships to approach the harbour between North Rock and A-Bouy in a correct manner that avoids any misunderstanding with vessels keeping to normal rules, is no big deal for the pilots, they pick up the ships well offshore and have the whole bay to navigate the vessel they are on into a safe port to port situation when approaching the harbor before A-bouy without as stated by the pilot crossing the channel. this is an accident waiting to happen for sure, if either vessel had to change course due to a vessel approaching using the correct passing manoeuvre Port to Port, a collision could happen and Tauranga gets another bloody nose. Every vessel plying our entrance and harbor including large ships must be on the same page and passing with the same rules, After 40 years at sea as a master I cannot believe this is happening in our harbor. Does this happen in any other major port in NZ or the world come to that. I can imagine the bedlam with so many foreign skippers plying the Panama canal for example with two sets of rules apparent in close quarters passing. If a collision happened in this position off the entrance, Rena would be a blip in comparison to two large ships colliding in the fairway!!
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