The girding and capsizing of tug George H. Ledcor in August 2018 has highlighted issues including a lack of risk factor awareness, informal work practices and improper guidance in industry training.
These are the results of an investigation carried out by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB), which released its report on the incident Wednesday.
According to the report, the investigation found that the girding and capsizing occurred after the tug, owned by Ledcor Group, attempted to change the direction of the barge it was pulling. This resulted in the barge overtaking the tug and eventually capsizing it.
The Aug. 13, 2018 incident happened in the north arm of the Fraser River as the tug was pulling the barge towards an unloading facility.
While the report notes that girding incidents are more likely to happen in river-towing and yarding operations, the TSB’s investigation states that the tug master “was faced with a situation for which he had no procedures or guidance.”
The investigation found that Ledcor did not provide proper or ongoing training relating to girding. And in a safety management manual, the company did not identify girding as a risk — Ledcor instead assumed that certified masters and mates knew what steps to take in such an occurrence, as girding was considered a “known risk.”
The TSB investigation also found that there is a continued risk that girding incidents will occur if Transport Canada oversight and intervention is not effective at changing towing operators’ practices.
The report also notes that TSB received 26 reports of girding situations, resulting in 21 capsizings, between 2005 and 2018.
Ledcor has since taken a number of safety actions to reduce the chances of girding accidents, according to the report.
The company has initiated procedures on how to recognize and avoid girding, and introduced a two-day voyage simulator and classroom training for both tug masters and mates.
Ledcor also installed additional standard abort systems in common locations on each of the company’s tugs, as the abort mechanisms on the George H. Ledcor were obscured by other controls and switches and varied in appearance at each of the tug’s three control panels.
