TANGO RIO

General information

Course/Position

Latest news

Accident report: Swiss authorities ignored safety concerns of their cargo ships

The SUST has published two reports on accidents of the 'Sabina', actually sailing as 'Tango Rio'. The reports were technically ready by the end of 2023, but have only now been authorised for publication. On June 26, 2015, a crew member fell three metres through a broken hatch in Constanta and was seriously injured. The accident was not reported to the SUST, which only discovered it as part of the investigation into the second incident. Just four months later, the "Sabina" was on its way from Denmark to Finland when it ran aground shortly before midnight off the island of Bornholm and was damaged. The SUST discovered that none of the 12 Ukrainian and Russian crew members were present on the bridge during the accident. The 2nd officer was on duty alone, contrary to regulations. He first fell asleep on the bridge. The SUST discovered this by detecting snoring on the voice recorder. When he woke up a few minutes later and wanted to get painkillers from his cabin, he collapsed and lay unconscious on the floor. No one noticed immediately, because the safety system, that should have triggered an alarm in case of inactivity on the bridge, had not been activated, in violation of protocols. The pilot from another ship noticed that the 'Sabina' was not changing course to the northeast as planned, but was heading straight for the island. He then alerted the Danish authorities. However, neither the ship's radio nor the telephone were responding. Eventually, a lifeboat was sent from Bornholm. The volunteers on board hit the hull of the 'Sabina' with an axe and bolt cutters, sounded their siren and illuminated the deck with searchlights. In this way, they managed to wake the sleeping crew. The captain was able to manoeuvre at the last minute to prevent the ship running aground at Rønne, however, the ship grazed the bottom, causing damage to the hull, rudder and propeller. The SUST concluded that the accident was directly due to multiple erroneous decisions made on board the ship: - Lack of personnel for the watch. - Excessive fatigue. - Failure to respect rest periods. - Failure to activate several safety systems. Such conditions were apparently commonplace on the 'Sabina'. The accident investigators therefore did not look favourably on the Swiss Maritime Navigation Office (SMNO), which had subjected the ship to an inspection a few days before the accident – ​​the first since it was put into service in 2000. The SMNO is part of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) and is responsible for the technical monitoring and safety of navigation on the high seas. The SMNO should therefore also have sanctioned such violations. The SUST investigation revealed that this was not the case. The Sust clearly states that the Maritime Navigation Office gave in to pressure from the Federal Office for National Economic Supply "and refrained from imposing sanctions on shipping companies that violated the rules". The investigation also revealed that the SSA was dramatically understaffed. A single inspector was in charge of all Swiss ships on the high seas. Since his appointment in 2006, he had been the sole and de facto SSA officer, 365 days a year and 24 hours a day, free of charge, and was primarily available to Swiss shipping companies to provide them with information and assistance. The management of the SSA Office had repeatedly requested reinforcements from the Directorate of Public International Law, which is superior to it, but in vain. The SSA had outsourced a large part of its monitoring tasks to private classification societies, without ever checking whether they were fulfilling their mission properly. And when the SSA employee carried out inspections himself, these were too rare – approximately every 16 years on average – and too superficial. The SUST describes an inefficient and complacent supervisory authority, seeking more to maintain a good relationship with shipping companies than to ensure safety. The report states: "The statements made to the SUST by various employees of the Maritime Navigation Office in the context of the investigation give the impression that there was an environment within the SSA, as a supervisory authority, marked by a lack of awareness of its own role, its rights and its tasks as a supervisory authority, by uncritical trust and by a certain reluctance to enter into conflict, as well as by a good understanding with the regulated parties." The only inspector of the SSA thus told the investigators that he did not see his role as that of a "policeman", but rather as an advisor helping companies to pass through international port controls without incident. Faced with these serious shortcomings, the SUST expressed in its report a marked astonishment at the management of the Office and the lack of action by the federal authorities. In conclusion, it issued a record number of recommendations and security measures to the SSA to prevent such a malfunction from happening again. Report with photo: https://www.watson.ch/fr/suisse/accident/358068718-revelations-sur-le-naufrage-d-un-cargo-suisse-evite-de-justesse

Ship disabled by engine room fire

The "Sabina" suffered a fire in the engine room on June 19 at 12.20 a.m. off Mulnik, while leaving Swinoujscie, bound for Szczecin with a cargo of phosphate. The fire rescue Strażak-26 was alerted, but the crew extinguished the fire with own means. However, the vessel was disabled for some time. In spite of an emergency anchoring manoever it allided with the embankment. It was then taken back to port by two tugs and moored at the Chemików Quay. The ship berthed at the Przedsiębiorstwo Przemysłu Cukierniczego GRYF S.A. in the port of Szczecin on June 24 at 7.30 p.m. Polish reports with photos and video: http://www.i-swinoujscie.pl/artykuly/43326/?page=0&sort=ASC&showall=0 http://radioszczecin.pl/1,339190,pozar-na-statku-w-swinoujsciu http://www.swinoujskie.info/2016/06/19/pozar-na-statku-ugaszony/

Cargo ship suffered ballast tank damage

The "Sabina" has suffered damage in the ballast tank area when sailing into shallows off Nørrekås on Oct 16, an inspection in Kotka showed. After attempts to make contact with the ship's bridge had failed, the Danish Defence Operations Centre in Aarhus had dispatched the lifeboats "Mads Jakobsen" and "Havørnen" to connect with the "Sabina". They succeeded to get contact via the shipping company Enzian Ship Management when the ship was about 100 meters from the shore. When it finally turned off, it was only 20-30 meters from shore. It anchored tsouthwest of Bornholm after the incident, then sailed on to its original destination in Kotka where, after its arrival on Oct 18, the ship was inspected by the Finnish maritime authorities, the ship classification society and two inspectors from the shipping company. The ship docked in Tallinn on Oct 19 at 7 a.m. for repairs of the damage.