Real Life Incident: Heavy Berth Contact Cuts Deep

A loaded vessel was departing a berth in very confined waters without tug assistance. Winds were NNE, almost parallel with the berth, at about 25-30 knots. Two pilots were on board but according to the company report, there were gaps in the Master/Pilot Exchange. The bridge team did not have a shared understanding of the vessel’s handling characteristics and the planned manoeuvre was not held as a shared mental model.

As the vessel moved away from the berth, the stern came into heavy contact with the berth.