'Lapse of concentration' the reason for large cargo ship running aground on River Nene

A lapse of concentration has been blames for the incident that saw a large cargoe ship run aground on the banks of the River Nene.

At 8:48am on June 25, the Baltic Arrow- registered in St Kitts and Nevis- ran aground near New Dyke Farm on the River Nene while enroute to Wisbech.

The boat had set sail from Riga in Latvia on June 19, carrying a cargo of timber.

An investigation into the incident has now been undertaken by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch.

The preliminary findings included that at 8:47am on the day of the incident, pilot A noticed that the vessel was slightly to port (the left) of the planned track.

He then applied 30° starboard helm (right) and ‘kicked’ the main engine ahead to correct the vessel’s position in the narrow channel.

This caused the Baltic Arrow’s bow to quickly swing to the right and, before the bridge team could take action, the bow of the vessel ran aground.

Baltic Arrow’s stern was then pushed onto the eastern bank by the flood tide, wedging the vessel across the river.

Initial attempts to free the vessel were unsuccessful but the Baltic Arrow was eventually refloated with tug assistance on the evening flood tide at 9:50pm the same day.

In its preliminary report, the MAIB found that a lapse of concentration from the pilot was likely and criticised the communication between the bridge team.

The MAIB report stated: “Baltic Arrow probably experienced some bank effect, which pilot A attempted to counter with the starboard helm and kick ahead on the main engine. Pilot A did not realise that they had over-corrected the vessel’s heading until it was too late to avoid the grounding.

"Pilot A had been helming the vessel for nearly 2 hours at the time of the accident. It is therefore possible that the requirement to sustain a high level of attention to complete the pilotage safely within the confined channel resulted in a lapse of concentration.

"The bridge team were communicating ineffectively, and lacked a shared mental model of the task being undertaken. This meant that no one recognised the developing situation in sufficient time to prevent the grounding.

“Insufficient action had been taken to prevent the reoccurrence of an incident on the River Nene following the February 2023 grounding of Baltic Arrow’s sister vessel, Baltic Express.”

The Wisbech Harbour Authority has now commissioned and received an independent report into the grounding, completed a survey of the river channel and started simulator training of its pilots.