Njord Forseti Allision Report

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A decision made on 4 August 2020

Decision Reference: MD-E-2020-0033
Decision Summary Title	Njord Forseti Allision Report	Date of Decision Summary	04 August 2020
Decision Summary author	Private Secretary EDTSC	Decision Summary: Public or exempt?	Public
Written Report title	Njord Forseti Allision Report	Date of Written Report	23 July 2020
Written Report author	Registrar of Aircraft & Shipping	Written Report: Public or exempt?	Public
Subject: Publication of Njord Forseti Allision Report.
Decision: The Minister, acting in accordance with Article 166(5) of the Shipping (Jersey) Law 2002, authorised publication of the report of the investigation concerning an allision involving Jersey-registered vessel Njord Forseti in April 2020.
Reasons for Decision: The report is complete, appropriate follow-up actions have been taken and publication can proceed.
Resource Implications: There are no resource implications arising from this decision.
Action required: The Registrar of Aircraft and Shipping is to ensure that the report is forwarded to the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the Marine Accident Investigation Branch and is published on the States website www.gov.je in due course.
Signature: Senator Lyndon Farnham		Position: Minister for Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture
Date signed:		Date of Decision (If different)

Njord Forseti Allision Report

Njord Forseti Allision Report : Request to Authorise Publication

This report summarises the investigation commenced following an allision involving the Jersey registered vessel Njord Forseti on 23rd April 2020 and recommends that the report be published in order that relevant lessons might be learned by the wider maritime community.

BACKGROUND

On 23rd April the Jersey registered windfarm support vessel Njord Forseti struck a tower within the Borkum Riffgrund windfarm in the North Sea. While the Forseti was able to return to port under her own power, the impact resulted in serious damage to the vessel and injuries to two crew members, with a third requiring medical examination.

INVESTIGATION

The Chief Marine Surveyor was commissioned to undertake the necessary investigation on behalf of the Minister. Due to restrictions imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic, the investigation was conducted remotely. It concluded with the submission of a report to the Jersey Maritime Administration, which was received on 2nd June (see attached).

The report found that a proper lookout was not being kept on the vessel, primarily because the Master, who had the conduct of the vessel, was distracted from his primary role. It further found that reports of the actions taken by the vessel and the company owner following the incident were appropriate to the circumstances. Five recommendations were made in the report. These were directed at the owner and were received and acted upon positively.

The report has been referred to the Law Officers’ Department in accordance with Article 166(6) of the Shipping (Jersey) Law 2002. Following that review, the Registrar of Aircraft and Shipping is now satisfied that it would be appropriate to consider releasing the report to the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency and Marine Accident Investigation Branch and into the public domain in accordance with Article 166(5) of the Law and for follow-up of the recommendations to continue, so that appropriate lessons can be learned from the incident.

RECOMMENDATION

The Minister is recommended to authorise publication of the attached report in accordance with Article 166(5) of the Shipping (Jersey) Law 2002 and to instruct the Registrar to ensure that the report is promptly forwarded to the to the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency and Marine Accident Investigation Branch.

Registrar of Aircraft and Shipping

23rd July 2020