Authorities in Charleston, S.C., briefly closed a prominent local bridge and cleared maritime traffic in the Cooper River after a containership lost engine control during its outbound voyage.
The 997-foot MSC Michigan VII accelerated to 14 knots but ultimately sailed under the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge and past the harbor into open water without incident. Unusually high wakes damaged some vessels along the river and pushed a small boat into some rocks, injuring its two occupants, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
The service is investigating the incident, which happened at about 1200 on June 5, but has not discussed a possible cause.
“In laymen’s terms, the throttles were near full forward and could not be moved out of position,” Randy Preston, deputy commander for Coast Guard Sector Charleston, said in a June 5 news conference.
The near-miss in Charleston echoed the March 26 incident in Baltimore when the containership Dali struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing it to collapse into the Patapsco River. Six highway contractors died and a seventh was seriously hurt. The cause remains under investigation, although the National Transportation Safety Board has raised questions about the ship’s electrical plant.
The Liberia-flagged MSC Michigan VII got underway from the North Charleston Container Terminal at 1146 on June 5 with Capt. Christopher Thornton, a Charleston Branch Pilot Association pilot, on board. Thornton ordered the ship’s engine to dead slow ahead for the outbound transit when it unexpectedly accelerated, the Charleston Pilots said in an account released June 6.
“The engine began increasing speed without warning, and would not respond to further commands,” according to the Charleston Pilots’ account, which noted the ship sped up to 14 knots — about twice the normal speed for the Cooper River.
“The pilot requested assistance from nearby tugs, but due to the increased speed, they were unable to make up to the ship,” the account continued. “The pilot, master and crew discussed options and knowing that dropping anchors would not be effective, they decided on a course of action to continue to navigate through the harbor and alert authorities to the situation.”
The Coast Guard dispatched its small boats into the Cooper River to clear maritime traffic from the ship channel. Local police departments closed both sides of the Ravenel Bridge and evacuated pedestrians before the ship passed underneath it.
Crew aboard the containership, which was headed to Savannah, Ga., ultimately got the vessel under control, Preston said. The ship eventually anchored about 8 nm offshore and the pilot disembarked at about 1400 on June 5.
“They regained control of the engines is my understanding, in order to gain control of the ship and slow it down and then anchor it,” Preston told reporters during the news conference. The details of how that occurred, he added, are subject to the ongoing investigation.
The Charleston incident highlighted the importance of clear communication during an emergency. The Pilots’ dispatcher quickly spread word of the developing situation using radio and telephone. Their warnings also recommended ships tied up along the river tend to mooring lines and prepare for large wakes. The pilots also urged authorities to clear the bridge.
Separate police departments on both sides of the bridge learned about the runaway ship at about 1230 and had the bridge fully closed by 1241, officers said during the news conference.
The Coast Guard praised the team effort that helped avert a catastrophe. But Preston also singled out the pilots for their “exceptional coordination and the pilot’s efforts in recognizing the adverse situation and steering the ship through the harbor to open water without major incident.”
Situations like this where a ship loses propulsion control are rare within the tight confines of a port. Neither Preston nor the Pilots could recall a similar occurrence.
“The pilots are cooperating fully with Coast Guard investigators to learn of the cause of this unprecedented incident,” the Pilots group said in a statement. “We have no record or recollection of such a control failure resulting in full speed in the history of modern shipping in Charleston Harbor.”
The two boaters pushed against the rocks by the passing wake were transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Other reports surfaced of limited damage to vessels along the Cooper River, including broken mooring lines, stemming from the ship’s unusually large wake.
Coast Guard investigators boarded MSC Michigan VII soon after it anchored and continued their investigation a day later when the ship returned to a Charleston terminal. AIS data suggests the ship remained moored in Charleston as of the last week in June.