Errant boat forces five ships to divert in Admiralty Inlet traffic jam
By Randy Trick, Peninsula Daily News
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In Admiralty Inlet fog, a small boat forced five commercial shipping vessels - a laden oil tanker, a container ship and three others - to steer out of the deep-water shipping lane in the middle of Puget Sound and skirt the west edge of Whidbey Island to avoid a collision.
Had the vessels been unsuccessful, there could have been an oil spill or dozens of shipping containers from Asia floating in Puget Sound, said Mark Ashley, operations director Coast Guard Puget Sound Vessel Traffic Service in Seattle.
The Coast Guard reported on Friday that the unidentified small vessel, which did not respond to radio calls, forced the evasive action near Marrowstone Point east of Port Townsend on Thursday morning.
The five vessels detected the small craft on their radar in their shipping lane in the 4:30 a.m. fog.
The Coast Guard Puget Sound Vessel Traffic Service in Seattle also detected the vessel, which was moving in "various courses and speeds," Ashley said.
"It likely was an early-morning fisherman," said Ashley.
"Likely, he wasn't aware of his position, or likely wasn't aware of the problems he was causing."
Lanes in the water
Shipping traffic lanes are marked on nautical maps.
When other vessels cross them, they are supposed to do so "as nearly as practicable at right angles to the general direction of traffic flow," according to the International Maritime Organization's Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea.
Ashley said the vessel causing difficulties on Thursday morning was not being practical or predictable.
"Unfortunately this boater didn't comply with these rules and, frankly, almost caused a catastrophe," Ashley said.
The Coast Guard's vessel traffic service asked the five large vessels to change course.
"The traffic lanes for ships are similar to I-5 - inbound lanes and outbound lanes and a median," Ashley said.
Two southbound vessels - a large container ship and a tanker - were forced east, across the imaginary median and into the path of the three northbound ships.
The northbound ships had to move east too, much closer to Whidbey Island than usual, Ashley said.
Ashley said all the vessels had Puget Sound Pilots on board - locals picked up and dropped off at Port Angeles to help the ships navigate the Sound.
A Coast Guard cutter tried to intercept the small vessel, but radar detected that it pulled into Port Townsend Harbor before the cutter arrived, Ashley said.
He said that when the international rules regarding maritime shipping lanes are broken, like they were Thursday, that violators can be cited and fined.
But the Coast Guard likely would have just talked to the boater and reminded him of the rules, Ashley said.
He said the Coast Guard is not actively looking for the errant boater.
The Coast Guard reported the problem in hopes of encouraging other boaters to be aware that large commercial vessels use shipping lanes all day and night.
Ashley encouraged boaters to refer to nautical maps to find where shipping lanes have been designated, and to carry a working VHF-FM radio.
Information about the International Maritime Organization's Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea can be found at www.imo.org.
The Coast Guard's Vessel Traffic Service in Seattle can be found at www.uscg.mil/d13/psvts.
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Reporter Randy Trick can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at randy.trick@peninsuladailynews.com.
Last modified: September 29. 2007 9:00PM