Crew aboard Star of Abu Dhabi dropped anchor at a Mississippi River anchorage on a clear spring evening following a long voyage from the Canary Islands. Soon afterward, the captain signaled he was finished with the main engine.
The overnight hours did not go as planned.
The ship’s port anchor chain parted at about 0230 on March 25 and its starboard anchor began dragging. Eleven nerve-wracking minutes later, the bulk carrier slammed into a loading dock near Gramercy, La., before continuing down river. Its movement stopped after the engine came back online.
The impact opened a 14-by-7 foot hole in vessel’s hull above the waterline, causing about $232,000 in damage. The Louisiana Sugar Refinery dock fared worse: It partially collapsed and cost $4.6 million to repair. U.S. authorities briefly arrested the Panama flagged ship after the incident.
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators determined Star of Abu Dhabi used two means of holding position at the anchorage despite a local marine bulletin requiring three during high-water conditions present at the time. The NTSB cited the captain’s failure to make sure the engine was in standby mode as the likely cause of the accident.
“The Star of Abu Dhabi used two means of holding position: its two anchors,” the agency’s report said. “The propulsion system was not in standby, although the master believed the engine was on 10-minutes’ notice.”
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