Lapse in concentration may have caused cargo ship Baltic Arrow to become stuck on River Nene close to West Walton, MAIB report finds

A cargo ship may have become stuck across a river due to a lapse in concentration, a new report has found.

The Baltic Arrow ran aground and blocked the River Nene close to West Walton at 8.48am on June 25 - with it eventually refloated, following unsuccessful attempts to free it, with tug assistance later that evening at 9.50pm.

The incident blocked marine traffic heading from Sutton Bridge to the Port of Wisbech, with the Baltic Arrow having passed the Cross Keys swing bridge at Sutton Bridge at 8.14am.

It had set sail from Riga in Latvia at 11.30pm on June 19, carrying a cargo of timber.

Now, a preliminary assessment by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has also found that the vessel “probably experienced some bank effect”, which one of its pilots attempted to counteract.

“Pilot A did not realise that they had over-corrected the vessel’s heading until it was too late to avoid the grounding,” the report added.

It states that Pilot A - who was under assessment by a senior pilot - had been helming the vessel for nearly two hours at the time of the grounding while the senior pilot and the master remained on the bridge monitoring the passage.

“It is therefore possible that the requirement to sustain a high level of attention to complete the pilotage safely within the confined channel resulted in a lapse of concentration,” the MAIB said.

“The bridge team were communicating ineffectively, and lacked a shared mental model of the task being undertaken.

“This meant that no one recognised the developing situation in sufficient time to prevent the grounding.”

It also found that “insufficient action” had been taken to prevent the reoccurrence of an incident on the River Nene, after the Baltic Arrow’s sister vessel the Baltic Express was also grounded in February 2023.

The report states that the Wisbech Harbour Authority has undertaken a number of actions following the incident, including commissioning and receiving an independent report into the grounding, completing a survey of the river channel and starting simulator training of its pilots.

It has also started a review of vessel suitability for transits to and from the Port of Wisbech, and completed a review of the risk assessment for a grounding incident, including consideration of the benefits of requiring an escort tug.

Meanwhile, Galleywood Shipping (Baltic Arrow) Limited has considered introducing an additional bridge watchkeeper and reviewed Baltic Arrow’s rudder capabilities.