LONDON, March 10 (Reuters) – An independent report into the crash of Volvo Ocean Race boat, Vestas Wind, on an Indian Ocean reef has recommended an overhaul of navigational charting in offshore racing to prevent a similar incident in the future.
The Danish boat’s crew miraculously avoided serious injury when they collided with the reef at St Brandon on Nov. 29 last year at around 40kph and spun 180 degrees before coming to a halt, grounded.
The vessel was badly damaged and the crew were forced to abandon it in the pitch darkness and wade to the safety of a nearby large rock in shark-infested waters before being rescued at first light by coastguards.
The Team Vestas Wind boat has since been retrieved and is being rebuilt for a return to the nine-month marathon race in June, but organisers commissioned a report in December into how the accident occurred and guidelines to avoid a repetition.
A retired Australian Navy rear admiral, Chris Oxenbould, headed the report’s panel of three.
The panel found that a failure by the crew to spot the reef on onboard electronic navigational guides was to blame and has recommended that industry standards of charting, both electronic and paper, be improved.
In particular, the panel said that a passenger aircraft-style list of check-points should first be ticked off before ocean racing boats take to the open sea.
This currently does not happen in many leading events, including the Volvo Ocean Race, which is widely considered the sport’s top offshore challenge.
“It is our intention that the report serves as a useful document for the entire offshore racing community in the future. Accidents will always happen at sea — we hope this helps make them less likely,” Volvo Ocean Race CEO, Knut Frostad, said in a statement.
The fleet sets out from Auckland for the fifth leg of nine on Sunday, March 15. It is the longest and most challenging stage of the nine-month race, which takes the fleet through the Southern Ocean to the next destination of Itajaí in Brazil.
The 38,739-nautical mile race will conclude on June 27, in Gothenburg, Sweden, after visiting 11 ports in total and every continent.
(Bloomberg) — Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invasion has entered a new phase, pitting homegrown drone technology against a 2,000 kilometer (1,200 mile) swathe of largely Soviet-era oil facilities. At least...
March 19 (Reuters) – Tanker company Euronav will exit Belgium’s blue-chip Bel-20 index after just two days of trading, as it no longer meets the membership conditions after its takeover by Compagnie Maritime...
MOSCOW, March 19 (Reuters) – The new head of Russia’s Navy was formally presented in his new role for the first time on Tuesday at a pomp-filled ceremony, the state RIA news agency reported,...
March 19, 2024
Total Views: 2485
Why Join the gCaptain Club?
Access exclusive insights, engage in vibrant discussions, and gain perspectives from our CEO.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.