The Maritime Disciplinary Court of the Netherlands has suspended the licence of the Russian first officer sailing aboard the MPP Muntgracht when the vessel hit a buoy and dragged it into the port of Darwin, Australia. 

The incident happened in October of 2022 when Spliethoff’s M-Type multipurpose vessel Muntgracht hit a buoy on its entry into the port of Darwin. The buoy became stuck between the vessel’s hull and the rudder, with Muntgracht dragging the buoy, including the chain and the concrete block to its mooring location in the port.

The buoy was only detected more than two hours after the incident during an inspection of the stern. At the time of sailing, the vessel had 15 people on board. The person subject to the court proceedings was the first officer, and also the officer of the watch at the time of the incident.

The objection filed by the representative of the Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management, the person concerned acted or failed to act as first officer/officer of the watch contrary to the duty of care that he, as a good seaman, should observe with regard to the persons on board, the ship, the cargo, the environment, and shipping traffic.

It was noted in the hearing that the first officer attended via an online video link from Russia, failed to take into account the strong current, nor did he notice that there was a considerable discrepancy between the course over the ground and the compass course of the vessel.

Additionally, there was no lookout on the bridge despite the fact it was dark, and the first office did not notice that the red buoy was no longer visible. In his response during the court hearing, the first officer admitted to having made a navigation error, resulting in the collision. He also noted it was his first visit to the port of Darwin, which was part of the reason for not taking sufficient account of the unexpectedly strong current.

Following the hearing, the Disciplinary Court suspended the first officer’s navigation license for six weeks.

At the time of the incident, the first officer was with Spliethoff for three years and as he said he is still employed by the company. It was also his first voyage on the Muntgracht.

Spliethoff declined to comment on the court ruling.