B SAFE Navigation / Manoeuvring BSAFE INCIDENT CASE STUDY 18: IMPROPER ELECTRONIC CHART DISPLAY AND INFORMATION SYSTEM (ECDIS) SETUP LEADS TO GROUNDING Published: 2 February 2023 A 43,472 GT BULK CARRIER RAN AGROUND ON A CHARTED SHOAL WHILST ON PASSAGE BETWEEN THE PHILIPPINES AND AUSTRALIA. THE INCIDENT OCCURRED AFTER THE VESSEL DRIFTED FROM THE TRACK, WITH NO AUDIBLE OR VISUAL WARNINGS GIVEN TO THE OFFICER OF THE WATCH (OOW). THE AMENDED PASSAGE PLAN PASSED 0.3NM FROM THE SHOAL WITH THE ELECTRONIC CHART DISPLAY AND INFORMATION SYSTEM (ECDIS) NOT SET UP WITH SUITABLE SAFETY SETTINGS. FOLLOWING THE GROUNDING, THE MASTER WAS ABLE TO EXECUTE THE EMERGENCY RESPONSE ACTIONS AND THE VESSEL WAS LATER REFLOATED WITH THE RISING TIDE, HAVING SUFFERED ONLY SLIGHT DAMAGE TO THE BOTTOM SHELL PLATES. WHAT HAPPENED Before the vessel left port, the master requested that the second officer (2/O) alter the original passage plan to make use of the recommendations provided by the owner’s weather routing service. These amendments were made, however, the amended passage plan was presented to the master for his approval, whilst it was incomplete. As part of the preparations for the vessel’s departure, the 2/O completed the Company’s pre-departure ECDIS settings form, this form noted the following settings: Safety depth and safety contour – 20m Shallow contour – 15m Deep contour – 50m Danger detection sector (DDS) – 5.0nm 090 across the bow Each leg of the route, which had a default crosstrack limit (XTL) setting of 0.50 nm, had been visually checked. Figure 1 Vessel image Source Fleetmon At 0800, once on passage, the chief officer handed over the watch to the additional second officer (OOW) and left the bridge. Throughout the watch the master, chief officer and 2/O joined the OOW on the bridge at various times to conduct different administrative tasks. The OOW discussed with the 2/O, who was calculating the next voyage’s bunker requirements, that he was unable to take a line of position f