Skipper of Jersey ship wasn't paying attention before crash

Friday 07 August 2020

An investigation into how a Jersey-registered ship slammed into the side of wind turbine has found that the skipper wasn’t paying attention.

A recently published report by Jersey’s Chief Marine Surveyor details how, on 23 April this year, the windfarm support vessel Njord Forseti struck a tower in the Borkum Riffgrund windfarm off the coast of Germany, injuring three members of the crew, including one seriously.

The impact also badly damaged the bow of the ship, which started taking on water.

However, it was able to return to port after the badly injured crewmember had been airlifted to hospital.

The report concludes that the ship wasn’t keeping a proper lookout, mainly because the Master was distracted.

Pictured: The Njord Forseti, with 'Jersey' written on its stern. (Ian Greenwood)

Its five recommendations have since been adopted by the ship’s owner and a copy has been sent to the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency and Marine Accident Investigation Branch.

The 10m ship, which was built in 2016, was working out of Eemshaven in the Netherlands at the time of the accident but it has been at a shipyard in Lauwersoog since 3 May.

More than 1,550 vessels are on the full Jersey’s Ships’ Register.

Pictured: Borkum Riffgrund is one of the world's largest offshore wind farms, which is off the Dutch/German border. (Google Maps)

They have to weigh under 400 tonnes are entitled to fly the Red Ensign.

Registration can bring tax advantages and crews benefit from British Consular services when abroad.

However, Jersey’s Employment Law does not apply to non-resident crew or when the ship is outside of the island’s territorial waters.