Gibraltar Calls for Use of Pilots Saying OS 35 Master Misjudged Departure

Two and a half years after the accident which caused the loss of the bulker OS 35, Gibraltar’s maritime authority issued its report finding poor planning and that the captain misjudged the maneuver resulting in the casualty. The report calls for considering the compulsory use of pilots for vessels in the anchorage concluding a pilot very likely would have prevented the incident.

The bulker OS 35 was in the Western Anchorage at Gibraltar on August 29, 2022, taking on bunkers as is the common practice at the port. About two hours after the OS 35 arrived, the gas carrier Adam LNG also arrived in the Western Anchorage for a layover. She was traveling in ballast without a cargo aboard. The OS 35 completed her bunkering around 20:30 and made ready to get back underway bound for the Netherlands with a load of steel rebar.

Based on the analysis, the investigators concluded that environmental conditions were not a major factor. The OS 35 recorded the winds as light and that there was good visibility and clear skies in her…