The sinking of the nation’s most advanced scientific research vessel near Penghu in October last year has been attributed chiefly to human error, with much of the blame on the ship’s captain and the chief engineer, according to the findings of a report.
Some key findings of the report were released on Monday after a meeting of the Committee for Investigation of Marine Casualties on Wednesday last week, which was convened by the Maritime and Port Bureau.
According to bureau officials, the captain and chief engineer of Ocean Researcher V are likely to be suspended from their jobs, while major punishments are also to be handed out to the ship’s chief officer and second officer when the results of the report are released at the end of this month.
On Monday, Maritime and Port Bureau Director Hao Wen-chung (祁文中) spoke on a number of important findings and key recommendations from the meeting.
“Investigators found that, on its return trip, the ship’s crews did not follow correct procedures that require the use of nautical charts to map their position and did not properly prepare for the possibility of a disaster,” Hao said. “Adjustments to the ship’s course were not made when it deviated off course. This led to the tragic event.”
He confirmed that most of the committee members concurred that human error was the main contributing factor to the disaster.
“Even on that night, we knew they encountered bad weather and stormy seas, which caused the ship to deviate off course,” Hao said. “However, neither the captain nor the crew realized this was happening and they failed to adjust course. If that was done, the tragedy certainly could have been prevented.”
The 2,700 tonne Ocean Researcher V struck a reef in stormy weather and sank off the coast of Penghu on Oct. 10 last year.
The accident resulted in the death of two researchers and injured 24 others. It dealt a major blow to the nation’s scientific community, blunting its ability to conduct high-quality oceanic research, explore marine environments, detect new energy resources and evaluate climate change parameters.
The NT$1.46 billion (US$47.98 million) ship was operated by the Taiwan Ocean Research Institute, with funding from the National Applied Research Laboratories.
Scientists said the vessel was the nation’s largest research ship, well-known for its state-of-the art equipment, which was supplemented with a remotely operated underwater vehicle that could descend to 3,000m to explore for signs of natural gas, methane hydrates and other energy sources.
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