The roll-on, roll-off car carrier MV Höegh Osaka came to grief on Brambles Bank in the Solent on 3rd January 2015 – 10 years ago today.
Island Echo was the first news source in the world to report the grounding of the vessel, which hit the headlines internationally.
The 590ft, 51,000t Singapore-registered vessel was on route from Southampton to Bremerhaven in Germany at the time of the incident. She was carrying a cargo of JCB equipment and 1,450 high-end cars – including Jaguars, Land Rovers and Minis – said to have been worth £60million.
Höegh Osaka left Southampton at 20:06. At 21:09 – while travelling at a speed of 12knots (approx. 14mph) – the ship made a port turn at West Bramble Buoy and developed a severe list. A minute later, the pilot gave the order to switch off the engines. The list continued to worsen, with the ship’s propellor and rudder coming clear of the water.
The Höegh Osaka grounded on the Brambles Bank at 21:15 and settled with a list that eventually reached 52°.
At 21:19, the RNLI inshore lifeboat from Calshot was called out. Further lifeboats from Cowes and Yarmouth came to the assistance of the stricken vessel, together with a second Calshot lifeboat.
Coastguard Rescue Helicopter 175 from Lee-on-Solent was scrabmbled, which was subsequently assisted by a further helicopter from RAF Chivenor and a National Police Air Service Helicopter with night vision equipment.
Most of the crew escaped unharmed. However, 1 crew member broke an arm and a leg after he had slid 60ft down a corridor when the ship listed. A further crew member jumped into the sea as a lifeboat approached and was rescued.
6 Höegh Osaka crew were winched aboard the Coastguard helicopter. A Yarmouth RNLI lifeboat crew member was winched on board to help with the evacuation.
All on board the ship had been rescued by 00:15 the following morning apart from the pilot, captain and chief officer. The Höegh Osaka was completely evacuated at 02:09.
She remained grounded on Brambles Bank for 3 days. She was refloated on 7th January, taken in tow, and moored 2 miles east at Alpha Anchorage, off East Cowes.
Further disaster struck on 10th January when one of the tugs keeping the vessel in place collided with the ship causing sufficient damage.
The Höegh Osaka was towed back to Southampton on 22nd January. She was repaired in Falmouth and returned to service on 20th February 2015.
The Marine Accident Investigation Branch published a report on the incident on 17th March 2016.
The owners had originally claimed the beaching on Bramble Bank had been intentional, whereas the investigation found it to have been fortuitous that the ship ran aground in shallow water.
If the ship had started to turn a few moments earlier or later, the Hoegh Osaka would have ended up in the only deep water channel. She would have stopped the container port, the cruise ships, and the ferries. It would have meant Britain’s largest oil refinery running out of supplies.
Marine investigators discovered a 265t difference between the actual and estimated weight of the cargo, which had left the ship unstable and contributed to the grounding.
MAIB chief inspector Steve Clinch said:
“The MAIB’s investigation found that Hoegh Osaka’s stability did not meet the minimum international requirements for ships proceeding to sea.”
The investigators further found that the Höegh Osaka’s chief officer had falsified the sounding records for the ballast tanks. In addition, some of the straps used to secure the cargo did not meet the regulations in force at the time, only being half as strong as they should have been.
The report stated:
“Cargo distribution was such that the upper vehicle decks were full while the lower vehicle decks were lightly loaded.
“The ship’s inadequate stability had not been identified as no accurate stability calculation had been carried out before the ship sailed.”
Do you remember the grounding of Hoegh Osaka? Let us know in the comments…
Seems like only yesterday, driving as not improved
on the island.
Lol