The vessel was sailing in a South American river bound for its next port.The port pilot had disembarked and the river pilot embarked. The port pilot had done a handover to the river pilot in Spanish. The pilot was communicating on the VHF with the VTS in Spanish and had the conn. He did not clarify for the Master what he had said and the Master didn’t ask him.

In the latest MSS Case, we discuss what can happen when you communicate in a language not everybody onboard understands. 

What was the cause of this accident and how to prevent this scenario from happening again? Read the full case in the latest MSS Case, provided by our Loss Prevention department.

Grounding in river

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