Fatigue may have contributed to grounding: ATSB

The Antigua and Barbuda-registered container ship Francoise Gilot had grounded while transiting the South Channel bound for Sydney on May 9 last year

"The ATSB investigation found that the helmsman had put the helm to starboard instead of port during the turn around the Hovell Pile beacon and that he was probably affected by fatigue at the time," the bureau said.

"The investigation also found that neither the Port Phillip pilot nor the ship's master discussed the allocation of roles and responsibilities of the bridge team before the ship left the berth.

"Consequently, no one was actively monitoring the helmsman's actions when he was executing the pilot's orders and, as a result, the helmsman's error was not detected until it was too late to avoid the grounding."

Port Phillip Sea Pilots was puzzled by the findings as it related to the pilot concerned, with managing director Captain Robert Buck's initial response being that it was the master's responsibility to ensure bridge staff were fit to carry out instructions correctly and the pilot was not in a good position to judge the fatigue levels of seafarers.

"It seems to me that the pilot at the time did all he could to make sure that the thing went normally and probably the only minor thing was that he didn't check the rudder indicator at the critical time," Capt Buck said