There are at least two versions of the collision of the Turkish dry cargo ship "Lira" with the supports of the Kerch Bridge: the inattention of the crew, who ignored the dispatcher's instructions, or the oversight of Russian officials who allowed to sail without a pilot. The accident will not affect the construction of the bridge, but the builders are ready to sue the owner of the ship. It has already been delayed.
Causes
The reason for the collision of the Turkish dry cargo ship "Lira" with the bridge over the Kerch Strait was the absence of a pilot on the ship, reports Flash Crimea, citing a source familiar with the situation. “Rosmorport earlier made a decision to allow ships like“ Lira ”to pass through the Kerch Strait without pilotage. The clash is the result of bureaucratic carelessness, ”the source said.
Vitaly Efimov, President of the Union of Transport Workers of Russia and First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Transport, urged to first sort things out thoroughly. However, he is already asking questions about the actions of the Turkish crew.
“We realized - we didn't realize, we need to look,” he said. - But even if they did not realize it, it means that we are talking about non-professionals. Who then allowed them to board the ship, who allowed them to go to sea? I think it is necessary to make claims against those who made such decisions. " The expert also expressed confidence that the collision with the bridge pillars would be a good signal for the future for the Russian special bodies. “They will be very attentive to the current history,” he said.
The second version is that the crew of the dry cargo ship Lira, owned by Turkuaz Shihhing Corp, under the control of the captain, a Turkish citizen, repeatedly ignored the demands of the ground services to return to a normal course. The dispatchers warned the Turkish dry cargo ship about the danger, as evidenced by the transcript of the negotiations, which was at the disposal of TASS.
Judging by the transcript of the negotiations, the collision of the dry cargo ship with the pillars of the bridge under construction occurred at 23:35 on March 19. Two minutes later, the captain reported that the “chief mate was checking” the condition of the vessel. Later, the captain of the Pobeda ferry appeared on the radio. “We were passing by,“ Lira drove between the piles, ”he said to the dispatcher.
However, according to the words Head of the Center for the Law of the Sea Vasily Gutsulyak, such "requirements" of the dispatcher are not mandatory. The final decision is made by the captain, and "the captain is ultimately responsible for everything that happens to the vessel."
“Any instructions from the traffic control service are in fact only advisory in nature. As well as in the relationship with the pilot who paves the way, the captain is free to listen to him or make an independent decision, ”Gutsulyak explained.
The expert is sure that the collision with the supports took place by accident, because "there are no kamikaze among the captains." At the same time, he recalled that 90% of all accidents at sea are related to the human factor. Emergencies can be explained by both low qualification of the crew, absent navigator, pilot, and natural reasons.
The region of the Sea of Azov is considered difficult for sailors to navigate. First, there is shallow water here. Secondly, the situation is constantly changing: either a complete calm, or a large surge wave, which poses a serious danger. “In these conditions, it can be difficult to steer a ship and stay on course,” Gutsulyak noted.
The Russian border guards have no complaints about the crew - the sailors did not violate international norms. “In the Sea of Azov, where the Lira went, there are both Russian and Ukrainian ports, and you cannot reach them from the Black Sea except through the Kerch Strait,” the press service of the FSB border department in Crimea told Komsomolskaya Pravda-Crimea ...
Effects
The head of the Center for Maritime Law does not think that a criminal offense of the participants in the state of emergency will begin. All the same, the responsibility will lie in the sphere of civil law relations. When the damage is precisely established, the circumstances of the case become clear, most likely there will be a court. And in order to ensure the claims of the injured party, the ship can be arrested, he explained.
According to a TASS source in the maritime services, the dry cargo ship that rammed the supports of the Kerch Bridge has already been detained in Taganrog. “On the afternoon of March 20, after receiving an application for the detention of the vessel in connection with the incident, the port staff examined the Lira. Traces of fresh paint are visible on the side - they tried to hide the traces of a collision with the support. The vessel was detained by sea rules for 72 hours. Stands in Taganrog. The vessel is over 30 years old, ”he said. The source added that the availability of insurance and the possibility of receiving compensation from the owners of the dry cargo ship for damage to the bridge pillars is now being investigated.
At the same time, a TASS source in the insurance market noted that the risks on the Kerch bridge under construction were most likely not insured, therefore, payments from commercial insurers would not follow.
Citing its own sources, LifeNews notes that the damage will be estimated at tens of millions of rubles, and the incident itself will be resolved in court. The restoration of the destroyed support, according to the newspaper, can take up to several months.
The information center "Crimean Bridge" reported that the incident with the dry cargo ship will not affect the construction of a working bridge in the Kerch Strait. “Moreover, it will not have any effect on the timing of the construction of the main bridge to Crimea,” they added.
The information center also said that construction and installation work on the bridge does not interfere with navigation. Moreover, all ships passing through the Kerch-Yenikalsky canal are informed about construction work. In addition to the mandatory notification, which has been in effect since last summer, the work area is limited by special navigation signs.
The collision took place on March 19, but information about the incident appeared only now. As a result, support # 80 was destroyed. Also, two lighthouse piles were destroyed, and supports # 79 and # 81 have displacements, said the Taman Federal Highway Administration.
In a sense, the builders were lucky. After all, the cargo ship crashed into the support of not the bridge that will eventually connect the Crimea and the Krasnodar Territory, but the auxiliary one necessary for the construction of the main one. Working bridges are laid towards each other from the side of Kerch and Tuzla Island in the direction of the fairway.
By the way, special hydraulic structures will be erected on the Kerch bridge to protect its pillars from incidents. These works are planned in accordance with the project approved by Glavgosexpertiza back in February, so there is no need to talk about the impact of a minor accident on large-scale construction.
Experts named the reasons for the collision of the Turkish dry cargo ship "Lira" with the support of the bridge under construction in the Kerch Strait. It is noted that there was no pilot on the Turkish vessel and it followed through the strait without proper guidance.
As it became known on Wednesday, the reason for the collision of the Turkuaz Shihhing Corp dry cargo ship with the support of the Kerch Bridge was the absence of a pilot on the Turkish vessel. “Rosmorport earlier made a decision to allow ships like“ Lira ”to pass through the Kerch Strait without pilotage. The clash is the result of bureaucratic carelessness, ”FlashCrimea reports, citing a source familiar with the situation.
It is also noted that the incident with the Turkish vessel will not affect the construction of the Kerch bridge in any way. “The incident with the dry cargo ship Lira, as a result of which the support of the working bridge No. 2 in the Kerch Strait was damaged (three piles of the support No. 80 of the working bridge were bent), will not affect the course and duration of the construction of this working bridge. Moreover, it will not have any effect on the timing of the construction of the main bridge to Crimea, ”TASS quotes the message of the Taman Federal Highway Administration, which is the customer of the construction.
Earlier it was reported that on March 19, a Turkish cargo ship collided with the support of a bridge under construction in the Kerch Strait. Nobody was hurt in the incident. The damage from the collision of the vessel with the structure of the building is estimated at tens of millions of rubles.
The agency reported that ships of the "Lira" type with a draft of less than 4.5 meters or less than 140 meters in length, in accordance with the order of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation of October 21, 2015, are not subject to compulsory pilotage. Most of the ships passing the Kerch-Yenikalsky Canal are 60-100 meters long, and all shipowners go without a pilot. So it was with the vessel "Lira" of Turkuaz Shipping Corp, sailing under the Panamanian flag.
Nevertheless, the front of construction work in the Kerch Strait does not affect the navigation zone in the Kerch-Yenikalsky Canal, through which ships freely pass from the Black Sea to the Azov Sea and back. However, the captains of all ships were warned about the installation of supports for the second and third technological bridges. They are laid towards each other from Kerch and Tuzla Island in the direction of the fairway.
As the data of Rosmorrechflot confirm, the work of bridge builders does not affect the passage of ships. The fairway will remain free for the passage of ships throughout the construction and is marked with special buoys. In January 2016, for example, 3,629 passes through the canal were recorded, which is more than 50 percent more than in the same period in 2015. Including the number of transit passages increased by 13 percent - up to 961.
Lira warning, you are on a dangerous course, change course to the left, keep course 067 degrees. Between buoys ", - said the traffic control dispatcher in the Kerch Strait, addressing the captain of the ship on March 19 at 23.30.
"Lyra, change course to the left"; "Lyra, captain, you are taking a dangerous course"; "Lyra, captain, stop forward full backward," the dispatcher continued.
But for some reason, there was no response from the captain of the Lyra, nor a change in the dangerous course.
Judging by the transcript of the negotiations, the collision of the dry cargo ship with the pillars of the bridge under construction occurred at 23.35 on March 19. Two minutes later, the captain reported that the “chief officer was checking” the condition of the vessel. Later, the captain of the Pobeda ferry appeared on the radio. "We were passing by, between the piles" Lyra "drove in, - he said to the dispatcher.
However, according to the head of the Center for Maritime Law Vasily Gutsulyak, such "requirements" of the dispatcher are not mandatory. The final decision is made by the captain, and "he is ultimately responsible for everything that happens to the ship."
"Any instructions from the traffic control service are in fact advisory in nature. As well as in relations with the pilot who blazes the path, the captain is free to listen to him or make an independent decision," Gutsulyak explained to the VZGLYAD newspaper.
The expert is sure that the collision with the supports happened by chance, because "there are no kamikaze among the captains." At the same time, he recalled that 90% of all accidents at sea are related to the human factor. Emergencies can be explained by both low qualification of the crew, absent navigator, pilot, and natural reasons.
The region of the Sea of Azov is considered difficult for sailors to navigate. First, there is shallow water here. Secondly, the situation is constantly changing: either a complete calm, or a large surge, which poses a serious danger. "In these conditions, it can be difficult to steer a ship and stay on course," Gutsulyak said.
The Russian border guards have no complaints about the crew - the sailors did not violate international norms. "In the Sea of Azov, where Lira went, there are both Russian and Ukrainian ports, and you cannot reach them from the Black Sea except through the Kerch Strait," the press service of the FSB border department told Komsomolskaya Pravda - Crimea. Crimea.
Effects
The head of the Center for Maritime Law does not think that criminal prosecution of the participants in the state of emergency will begin. All the same, the responsibility will lie in the sphere of civil law relations. When the damage is accurately established, the circumstances of the case will become clear, most likely there will be a court. And in order to ensure the claims of the injured party, the ship can be arrested, he explained.
The emergency happened due to the "slowdown" of the crew and the order of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation
The reasons for the collision of the Turkish dry cargo ship "Lira" with the auxiliary structures of the Kerch Bridge still have to be examined in detail, but now there are two versions. Some blame the ship's captain for disobeying the operator, while others see the root of evil in the order of the Ministry of Transport, which allowed ships to sail without a pilot - as a result, on Saturday, the emergency became the third in a row. Meanwhile, the Turkish dry cargo ship was detained for 72 hours - it is docked in the port of Taganrog.
As it became known yesterday evening, on March 19, the Turkish dry cargo ship Lira, owned by a Turkish company, but under the flag of Panama, was sailing along the Kerch-Yenikalsky Canal, which is used to build a highway over the Kerch Strait. One support and two savis collapsed completely, two more supports shifted.
The collision became inevitable after a Turkish vessel, at a speed of about 7 knots, unexpectedly went beyond the "green curb" in the area of the 19 buoy on the eastern side of the canal. The captain tried to slow down and return to the fairway, but to no avail. However, the damage was not too serious. According to the information center "Crimean Bridge", the repair work will not affect the delivery time of the Kerch Bridge.
"Lira" and its crew of nine people (two citizens of India, five Turks and two citizens of Georgia) were also not injured. Nevertheless, when the damage inflicted is assessed, the situation will be decided in court, the information center emphasizes.
Rosmorrechflot assured that the construction of the bridge does not interfere with navigation. All vessels passing through the Kerch-Yenikalsky Canal are aware of the work outside the fairway. In addition, the construction area was marked with special navigation signs.
By the way, the erected working bridges go towards each other from Kerch and the Tuzla island, but none of them crosses the navigable canal and will never cross. According to local media reports, the Lyra could deviate from the course due to the fact that there was no pilot on board. Indeed, according to the order of the Ministry of Transport, since 2015, ships with a draft of less than 4.5 meters or a length of less than 140 meters have been exempted from pilotage. In this regard, the collision of the ship with the supports is called the result of official carelessness. After the incident, "Kerchtraffic control" ordered "Lira" to take on board a pilot. Now the ship is in the port of Taganrog - it was detained for 72 hours
The Infocenter of the Crimean Bridge agrees with this statement of the problem. They confirmed that the absence of a pilot on board the dry cargo ship was legal, and the ship simply could not orient itself under the new navigational conditions. The influence of the order of the Ministry of Transport in the Infocenter is recognized as "negatively" affecting security in the strait.
At the same time, they remind that since the entry into force of the order, this is the third such case (before that, a river-sea-class vessel and a ferry had crashed). By the way, the cost of pilotage is not too high. And it is only $ 200.
The editor-in-chief of "Marine Bulletin" Mikhail VOYTENKO shared with "MK" his view of the incident: "The absence of a pilot on board, of course, could be the cause of an emergency. But "Lira" is a regional ship that constantly goes along this route. Therefore, the captain was able to navigate his ship on his own.
It is not clear why he began to draw close to the Crimean coast. It's hard to say now. We need to figure out whose fault in what happened is more, but, in theory, “Lear” is to blame. At the same time, rumors that the Turks could have deliberately rammed the Crimean bridge under construction is complete nonsense. They have nothing else to do. The ship belongs to a private owner who will hang himself for every extra dollar. When Turkey began to aggravate relations with Russia, its private companies continued to transport Russian goods "
By the way, the ship "Lira" earned money from transportation on domestic flights. This time the dry cargo ship transported ammonium sulfate from the Tuapse port to Taganrog.
Meanwhile, the first results of the investigation showed that the blame still lies with the captain of the vessel, who for seven minutes did not respond to warnings from the operator of the regional vessel traffic management system (RVTS) about deviation from the course.
The Turkish dry cargo ship, which allowed a collision with the supports of a working bridge under construction in the Kerch Strait on the night of March 19-20, for seven minutes before the incident ignored warnings from the operator of the regional vessel traffic control system (RVTS) about an unacceptable course. This is evidenced by the transcript of radio communications between the Kerch Strait RVTS and the captain of the Lira dry-cargo ship of Turkuaz Shipping Corp, which flew under the flag of Panama.
As follows from the decoding, at 23.20 the operator of the control system gave the ship's master the course for movement along the strait. At 23.26, the first warning was received from Kerch about deviation from the designated course and the advice to return to it.
In response, the Turkish captain asks to repeat the message and after that does not get in touch for 3 minutes.
During this short period of time, the RVTS operator continues to make recommendations.
"Lyra", I advise you next time to follow with a pilot, you are not ready to follow without a pilot, he says.
"Lyra", enter the channel, now your position is 70 meters from the red edge, keep the red buoy from the left side ".
Finally, the captain of the Turkish dry cargo ship answers, but the subsequent repeated messages from the operator about the danger of deviation indicate that he did not follow the instructions - for more than two minutes he follows his course, after which he nevertheless agrees
"Change course to the left".
In half a minute, the operator commands the captain to give
, after another minute, stop all the machines of the ship.The ship's captain allegedly agrees, but for the next two minutes he does not get in touch.
At 23.37 a question follows from Kerch about the condition of the vessel, to which the vessel replies that they are checking its condition.
After 7 minutes, the RVTS receives a message from the Pobeda ferry: “
Judging by how we passed, "Lyra" drove between the piles.
source: c-inform.info
Earlier it was reported that the incident in the Kerch Strait did not affect the construction of the bridge to the Crimea. “On March 19 at 23.25 the motor ship“ Lira ”under the Panama flag, owned by the“ Turkuaz Shipping Corp ”company, while following the Kerch-Yenikalsky canal, deviated from the recommended route in the area of buoys 21 and 23a, and then piled on the structural elements of the working bridge,” - a source in the Crimean Bridge information center told TASS.
As a result of a collision with a sea vessel, support No. 80 was destroyed, including piles with a diameter of 1020 mm and a length of 58 meters, crossbars and heads. Separately driven lighthouse piles were damaged, and two more adjacent supports were damaged.
The crew of the vessel, consisting of nine people, was not injured, the dry cargo ship was put on the roadstead in the port of Taganrog.
The state contract for the design and construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait was signed on February 17, 2015 between the Federal State Institution “Administration of Federal Highways“ Taman ”of Rosavtodor and LLC“ Stroygazmontazh ”. It is planned that construction work will be completed in December 2018, and traffic on the bridge will be opened in working mode. In 2019, after the completion of all commissioning works and landscaping of the territory, the bridge is planned to be put into operation.
The Kerch Bridge is being built at the expense of the federal budget within the framework of the Federal Target Program "Social and Economic Development of the Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol until 2020", without attracting extra-budgetary funding. The estimated cost of the project is RUB 211.9 billion in Q4 2015 prices.
