Marine Accident Brief: Contact of Liquid Petroleum Gas Carrier Levant with Mooring Dolphin, December 15, 2019

On December 15, 2019, about 0406 local time, the liquefied petroleum gas carrier Levant was shifting 0.7 miles from its anchorage to the Petrogas Ferndale Wharf in Ferndale, Washington, when it struck the wharf’s south mooring dolphin. The mooring dolphin and catwalk connecting it to the wharf were destroyed, and the Levant’s forward ballast tank was penetrated and flooded. There were no injuries to the vessel’s crew or persons on the wharf. There was no release of pollutants or the ship’s liquified cargo of propane and butane. Damage to the vessel was estimated at $1.5 million. Damage to the south mooring dolphin and adjoining catwalk was estimated at $6.75 million. ​The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the contact of the liquid petroleum gas carrier Levant with a mooring dolphin at the Petrogas Ferndale Wharf was the pilot’s approach with excessive speed and at too steep an angle, resulting from the pilot’s and bridge team’s poor bridge resource management.

• Record URL:
  • https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/MAB2102.pdf
• Summary URL:
  • https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/MAB2102.aspx
• Corporate Authors:

  National Transportation Safety Board

  Washington, DC  United States 
• Publication Date: 2021-1-19

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Maps; Photos;
• Pagination: 13p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash causes; Crash investigation; Dolphins (Piles); Liquefied petroleum gas; Tankers; Water transportation crashes
• Geographic Terms: Washington (State)
• Subject Areas: Marine Transportation; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01765749
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: NTSB/MAB-21/02, Accident ID: DCA20FM006
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Feb 23 2021 10:25AM