Bow Triumph was downbound in the Cooper River when it approached a sharp bend near Naval Weapons Station Joint Base Charleston. The local pilot conning the tanker lined up along the left edge of the channel and issued helm commands to steer through the turn.
The Charleston Branch Pilot Association pilot issued a series of engine and rudder commands but soon realized the ship’s rate of turn barely changed. Less than three minutes later, at about 1602 on Sept. 5, 2022, the tanker’s bow struck a disused pier at the military base.
Roughly 300 feet of Pier B at the Naval Weapons Station collapsed, and the 600-foot Norway-flagged Bow Triumph sustained hull damage along its bow. Total damage from the incident approached $30 million, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). None of the 24 crewmembers were hurt and there was no pollution.
Bow Triumph’s track line was closer to the left bank than similar ships had taken during the preceding year, and NTSB investigators said that course exposed the ship to bank effect forces that “the pilot’s subsequent rudder and engine orders could not overcome.”
“At the same time that the pilot was attempting to turn the vessel to port, the bank effect forces at the turn would have worked against the port turn by pushing the bow away and pulling the stern of the Bow Triumph toward the bank,” the NTSB said in its report.
“Transiting in the center of the channel is prudent to avoid the risks associated with bank effect,” the report continued.
The Charleston Branch Pilot Association said it largely agreed with the NTSB findings, and awaited the results of a similar investigation report from the U.S. Coast Guard.
This incident, and a similar one that occurred earlier this year, highlighted an elevated and “insidious” risk of bank suction in this portion of the Cooper River, the group said in a statement. “While the contributing factors to this newly elevated risk remain unknown, collaboration with the NTSB, Coast Guard, Army Corps of Engineers, and Department of the Air Force (which operates the channel) has resulted in an additional aid to navigation, more accessible soundings data, and tug escorts, which have greatly improved navigational safety in this challenging turn.”
The Bow Triumph incident was the first of at least two nearly identical pier strikes in the same location within 17 months. The 603-foot Singapore-flagged tanker Hafnia Amessi also struck Naval Weapons Station Pier B while attempting to turn around the same bend on Jan. 14, 2024. The NTSB investigation into that incident is still ongoing.
Bow Triumph got underway from the Ineos Aromatics Terminal in Wando, S.C., at about 1530 on Sept. 5. The vessel, operated by Odfjell Management, was headed to a company dock about six miles downriver in North Charleston to discharge more cargo.
Tugboats assisted the ship off the dock and turned it 180 degrees for departure. The pilot took the conn at about 1541 and proceeded to navigate around two bends without issue. The pilot prepared to make a third turn to port around the bend known as Shoal 4 within a restricted section of the Cooper River known as the Joint Base Charleston Channel for its proximity to the military base.
The pilot steered the ship to the left side of the 650-foot-wide channel at Shoal 4, a maneuver he told investigators would put the ship in position to slide toward the outside of the turn with help from a 1-knot flood current. The pilot also slowed the engine from full to half ahead.
Initially, the ship responded to the pilot’s port rudder commands to 20 degrees, and then 9 seconds later ordered 10 degrees. The pilot then ordered the engine from full to half ahead to reserve a “kick” to help steer through the turn. But at this point, around 1600, the pilot noticed the ship wasn’t turning.
“Between 1600:22 and 1601:24, as the vessel drew nearer the left bend, its heading had only changed 2 degrees to port and the vessel’s course over the ground showed an increase of about 10 degrees to port as it drew closer to the left bank,” the report said.
Moments later, the pilot sensed trouble and ordered the anchor dropped. The ship traveled straight across the channel and struck the 966-foot pier at a 90-degree angle. At that point, Pier B was no longer used for berthing ships and was primarily used for fishing and other recreation, the report said.
Bow Triumph sustained punctures on its bulbous bow and damage to its side shell, framing and stringers in the forepeak and No. 1 starboard forward ballast tank, the report said. Repairs conducted at a Florida shipyard soon afterward cost roughly $2.5 million. Rebuilding the damaged section of Pier B, meanwhile, will require about $27 million.
After the impact, tugboats helped Bow Triumph back away from the pier and assorted debris. The ship later continued its voyage to Odfjell Terminal and arrived there about an hour after hitting the pier.
The Charleston pilot conning the ship joined the Charleston Branch Pilots Association as an apprentice in 1991 became a full pilot with the group in 1994. He told investigators he had piloted more than 10,000 ships during his career, including nearly 500 to the narrow and winding upriver sections of the Cooper River north of the Naval Weapons Station.
While this was his first time aboard Bow Triumph, he had previously conned other ships in the same class, the report said.
Investigators looked at track line data for dozens of voyages from Ineos Aromatics through the bend at Shoal 4. They determined Bow Triumph was closer to the left (east) bank than any other ship of similar size. At one point, while preparing to turn around the bend, the ship left the channel.
“When asked about his track line, the pilot told investigators that he did not intend to cut the corner,” the report said. “He envisioned a gradual turn through the bend with the flood tide pushing him toward the west bank.”
The ship’s proximity to the left bank made shallower by shoaling left the vessel susceptible to bank effect forces, investigators said. They also noted that the flood tide would work against the bow as the ship navigated through the turn.
“Bow Triumph approached the turn running along the eastern (left) bank, and it had relatively open water to starboard,” according to the report. “With the open water to starboard, there would not have been any opposing forces that offset the bank effect on the vessel’s port side.”
The shallow section around Shoal 4 has since been dredged to project depth of 40 feet. The Coast Guard also has installed a permanent lighted buoy to mark the channel edge near Shoal 4. Following the Hafnia Amessi incident from earlier this year, ships drawing 25 feet or more are now required to have a tethered escort from two tugs along this section of the Cooper River.