The National Transportation Safety Board cited vessel pilot fatigue, among other causes, in its probable cause findings concerning the January 2010 collision of the 810 ft oil tanker Eagle Otome with a cargo tanker berthed at the Port of Port Arthur, TX. The tanker was then subsequently hit by a barge, causing the release of approximately 462,000 gallons of oil into Sabine-Neches Canal. A synopsis of the Board's findings are attached here pending issuance of the final report.
Although the tanker had two pilots on board, as required by local protocol, the Board found that the pilot controlling the vessel was making a radio call "at a critical point in the waterway, and the radio call interfered with his ability to fully focus on conning the vessel." Also, the Board found that pilot to be fatigued and that his fatigue adversely affected the pilot's ability to stop the sheering motion of the tanker. Contributing factors to the pilot's fatigue were untreated sleep apnea, and extended periods of wakefulness as a result of the pilot's work schedule, according to the Board's findings.
Among the various recommendations issued by the NTSB, were recommendations to the local Board of Pilot Commissioners to develop a fatigue mitigation and prevention program. The Board also reiterated a prior recommendation to the Coast Guard to to require mariners to report substantive changes in their medical status or medication use that occur between required medical evaluations.
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