Proper look out averted a major accident ( close quarter situation)
Capt. C S Joshi
The ship was M T Maharishi Karve secured to an SBM at Bombay High, loading crude oil. The ship was converted to a tanker from OBO class. The ship was secured to SBM with two 16” hawsers and was loading through another flexible hose (bow loading).The vessel had an OSV secured to the stern of the vessel to keep it away from SBM.
The loading was stopped due to heavy weather, and strong waves were pushing the vessel away from the buoy putting a lot of strain on ropes. An oil rig was 3.5 cables on the port side of the vessel.Suddenly one hawser parted and it was promptly and timely reported by forward look out and the ship was brought to emergency stations. Engines were brought to standby and the OSV at the stern was told to keep her engines ready.
The OSV was requested to put the 2nd hawser onto the SBM, but due to bad weather, this could not be achieved. All authorities were informed of the situation. The weather continued to be rough and after some time, the 2nd hawser also parted.Since the vessel was ready with the engines, after informing OSV of the situation, the vessel went stern and turned stbd, cleared the SBM and went full ahead with engines to clear off the rigs within 2 cables and cleared off the oil field safely.This was possible because of the alertness and awareness of all the persons on board who raised to the occasion.