How does a thousand-foot long freighter with 5,000 containers packed aboard stray out of the carefully marked 50-foot deep channel coming out of the port of Baltimore and run hard aground in 23-foot deep water?
That’s one of the many questions being asked, and investigated, since the Hong Kong-flagged Ever Forward did just that in the darkening hours of Sunday evening, March 13.
The grounding took place where the channel coming east out of Baltimore takes a turn to the south toward the bay bridge. Most of the emphasis over the past several weeks has focused on efforts to free the vessel, but little is being said about what led to the grounding.
Was there a mechanical failure or an uncharted shoal? Was there a miscommunication on the bridge of the vessel? Was there a navigational error in the instructions given to the vessel’s helmsman?
Will a review of black box-like recordings of conversations on the bridge before the incident answer these questions?
For now, involved organizations are for the most part staying quiet. But, it’s important to determine the cause of the grounding quickly so any action, if any is needed, can be taken to avoid a similar situation in the future.
Ships operating in Chesapeake Bay are required by the state to take aboard a bay pilot to help navigate the narrow-channeled waters safely.
The Maryland Association of Pilots carries a roster of licensed captains trained and qualified for fulfilling that requirement. They board vessels night and day, 365 days a year, from launches designed to carry them back and forth.
According to its website, the association is the nation’s oldest state-codified pilots association in the nation. Prior to its founding in 1852, the association’s eventual members operated independently and vied for the business of providing navigational services to vessels coming into the Chesapeake by racing to them in fast sailboats. The first pilot aboard typically was hired by the ship’s captain. Having an association with pilots taking turns avoided the hazards of racing out further and further in foul weather to be the first aboard.
In Maryland, a Board of Pilots within the state’s Department of Labor, oversees the licensing and regulation of the pilots and their business. Joe Farren, chief strategy officer for the Department of Labor, said the Board of Pilots has assigned an investigator to be part of the Coast Guard investigation. He confirmed that a member of the Maryland Association of Pilots was aboard the Everforward at the time of its grounding but could say no more due to the ongoing investigation.
A spokesperson at the Maryland Association of Pilots said no official statement has been issued by the organization and no comment could be made at this point.
Breanna Centano in the Coast Guard’s public affairs department provided links to press releases about the grounding incident and efforts to refloat the Everforward. But other than saying she could find no record of another incident like this in the Chesapeake in the past 10 years, she too could make no further comment due to the ongoing nature of the investigation.
The pilots’ association website provides the following information about the role of the pilots in Chesapeake Bay:
“The Chesapeake Bay is the longest pilotage route on the United States’ East Coast, with nearly 200 miles of Bay waters. Ships longer than 4 football fields and with drafts of nearly 48‘ deep routinely transit the narrow ship channels leading to Baltimore that are only 50′ in depth. … Pilots are on the ‘front lines’ protecting the environmental and ecological balance of the Chesapeake Bay by ensuring the safe passage of these large ships that carry huge quantities of oil and other hazardous materials.
“The Pilot is the chief person, duly qualified, to navigate ships into or out of a harbor or through certain difficult waters. The Pilot’s familiarity with the water that is being traversed allows the ship to be safely navigated to its port.
The United States Supreme Court summarized the Pilot’s job in an 1851 opinion:
“A Pilot, so far as respects the navigation of the vessel in that part of the voyage which is his pilotage ground, is the temporary master charged with the safety of the vessel and cargo, and of the lives of those on board, and instructed with the command of the crew.”
The website states further:
“Like an iceberg, most of the ship is underwater and unseen. In fact, so much of the ship may be submerged that the clearance between the bottom of the ship and the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay can be as little as a couple of feet. Ships with more than 47 feet of draft (how deep the ship sits in the water) routinely transit the 50’ main shipping channel. Maryland Pilots are men and women who are selected, licensed and regulated by the Maryland State Board of Pilots to guide ships on these passages.”
When Native Americans first began assisting European mariners navigate the narrow channels of new world waters in the 1600s, they participated in the ancient art and enterprise of piloting. In the marine sense, pilots use their knowledge of local waters to help captains and their crews successfully navigate their way safely to their ports of call.
Through most of piloting history, in Chesapeake Bay and elsewhere, the main objective has been attached to the value of the ships, cargo and crew. Since the rise of the world’s environmental movement in the late 1960s, however, the role and responsibility of pilots has broadened to include protection of the waters within which commercial vessels operate.
Ships destined for Chesapeake Bay ports including Norfolk and Baltimore often carry potentially hazardous cargos such as petroleum and chemical products. They also carry tons of heavy fuel oil to power their massive diesel engines. If a fully laden vessel gets off course from narrow navigation channels, serious pollution can result if a grounding leads to a hull rupture or other complications.
The Coast Guard, conducting the investigation of the incident out of its Curtis Bay office in Baltimore, reports that: “A Captain of the Port Order has been issued by the Coast Guard requiring the vessel’s crew to conduct soundings of all tanks, bilges, and voids every four hours to monitor potential pollution and report any noticeable change in stability, draft readings, vessel position, or signs of an oil discharge.
“Additionally, the Coast Guard is enforcing a 500-yard safety zone around the Ever Forward to ensure the safety of those on and around the vessel as well as the safety of the marine environment during ongoing salvage operations.”
There have been no reports so far of damage or pollution resulting from the grounding.
The Hong-Kong flagged container ship, reported to be carrying general cargo, departed Baltimore Sunday and was en route to Norfolk, Virginia, when it grounded.
Dennis Forney grew up on the Chester River in Chestertown. After graduating Oberlin College, he returned to the Shore where he wrote for the Queen Anne’s Record Observer, the Bay Times, the Star Democrat, and the Watermen’s Gazette. He moved to Lewes, Delaware in 1975 with his wife Becky where they lived for 45 years, raising their family and enjoying the saltwater life. Forney and Trish Vernon founded the Cape Gazette, a community newspaper serving eastern Sussex County, in 1993, where he served as publisher until 2020. He continues to write for the Cape Gazette as publisher emeritus and expanded his Delmarva footprint in 2020 with a move to Bozman in Talbot County.
samuel owings says
Great article, good job Dennis.