Clonlee, a Feederline container ship suffered ‘electrical blackout' causing her to lose power and steerage
A report published by the Marine Accident and Investigation Branch (MAIB) has said that Clonlee, a
331ft (101m) vessel, that ran up the beach up the north east coast on 16 March
2011 was due to an electrical failure.
The ship, which was enroute from Rotterdam to South Shields,
was travelling at 12 knots at the time of the incident. According to the report,
it was a fault with the electrical power supply and distribution systems that
caused a loss of power just 1.5 miles from the entrance of the port. The
engineers were unable to start the power, which meant the vessel ploughed into
the beach at an estimated 7 knots.
The MAIB were unable to determine the full cause of the
power blackout, but a faulty relay is one of the possibilities.
For the full accident investigation report on the MAIB
website click here.
