The story is out- Jessica Watson's collision report

Jessica arriving Southport after the collision SW

Position at 0030 © SW

At 0320 on 6 September 2009, Silver Yang berthed in Newcastle, New South Wales, to load coal for export to Jingtang, China. Cargo operations finished on the morning of 7 September and the ship departed its berth at 1300 with a harbour pilot on board.

At 1340, after the pilot had disembarked, the master brought the ship around to a heading of about 065°(T) and commenced the voyage to Jingtang. Over the following 36 hours, Silver Yang’s voyage, northwards along Australia’s east coast, went as planned.

At about 1000 on 8 September, Ella’s Pink Lady departed from Mooloolaba, Queensland. The skipper was intending to clear the coastline as soon as possible and then set a course for Sydney, via Lord Howe Island. However, the wind was only light, so the skipper was unable to clear the coast as early as she had planned.

During the afternoon, the wind ‘glassed right out’6 so the skipper started the engine and motored Ella’s Pink Lady for several hours. By sunset, the yacht was off Cape Moreton. The wind had freshened from the west and the yacht was again under sail.

Ella’s Pink Lady was now travelling at a speed of about 4 knots in conditions that the skipper described as ‘nice and flat with perfect sailing conditions’. Visibility was good and a half moon was due to rise at 2056 and set at 0725 the following morning.

After sunset, the skipper reported that she had a catnap about every 2 hours. On each occasion, she checked the radar, which she had set on the 8 mile range, for any vessels in the area. She then set the radar inner and outer

Position at 0146 © SW

guard-rings at 2 miles and 4 miles respectively. Once she considered that it was safe to have a short sleep, she set her three alarm clocks to wake her about 5 minutes later and went to bed.

By 0030 on 9 September, Ella’s Pink Lady was about 15 miles northeast of Point Lookout and making good a course of about 140°(T) at a speed of 4 knots. Silver Yang was now about 17 miles east-southeast of Point Lookout, on a northerly heading and travelling at a speed of 8.7 knots.

At about 0146, Ella’s Pink Lady’s skipper prepared for another catnap. The yacht was making good a course of 144°(T) at a speed of 7 knots. The skipper checked the radar and noted that there was a vessel about 6 miles off her starboard quarter10. She could not see it visually, but she monitored its progress on the radar for about 1 minute.

Once she had determined that it did not present a collision risk, she set the radar guard-rings, set her alarm clocks and then went to bed again.

However, she had not detected Silver Yang, which was now about 1 mile to the south-southeast of her position

Position at collision © SW

At about 0125, Silver Yang’s bridge watch keeper reported observing one green light to port, on a bearing of 345°(T) at a range of about 4 miles. He continued to monitor it and at 0148½, he altered the ship’s heading by 10° to starboard, in an attempt to avoid Ella’s Pink Lady. He continued to monitor the closing situation and at 0150, applied hard-to-starboard rudder in an attempt to avoid collision.

At 0150½, Ella’s Pink Lady’s bow collided with Silver Yang’s port side mid section. The ship had come around to a heading of 024°(T), so the collision was almost square on (Figure 5). The impact pushed the yacht’s bow to port and its starboard side scraped along part of the port side of the ship.

The collision woke Ella’s Pink Lady’s skipper. She climbed out of the cabin, grabbed the tiller and tried to steer the yacht. She looked upwards and thought that it was likely that the yacht’s rigging would become entangled with the ship and dismast her vessel, so she returned to the cabin. A few seconds later, the mast came crashing down.

Immediately, following the collision, Silver Yang’s watch keeper reportedly stopped the ship’s main engine.

Once Ella’s Pink Lady had cleared the ship’s stern, the skipper assessed the damage to her yacht. She found no ingress of water and, although the yacht had been dismasted, the vessel appeared to be seaworthy.

Ella’s Pink Lady’s skipper called Silver Yang on VHF channel 16. At first, when she did not broadcast the ship’s name, she received no reply. She checked the yacht’s AIS unit to determine the ship’s name, and then called again, broadcasting using its name ‘Silver Yang’. On this occasion, she received a reply.

It was difficult for Ella’s Pink Lady’s skipper to understand Silver Yang’s Chinese watch keeper because his spoken English was poor. However, over a series of short conversations, he confirmed that Ella’s Pink Lady had been dismasted and that neither the yacht nor its crew needed any assistance. He then re-started the ship’s main engine, returned it to its original heading and resumed the voyage.

Ella’s Pink Lady’s skipper used the yacht’s satellite telephone to call her parents. She spoke to her father and told him what had happened. While she was talking to her father, her mother telephoned the Australian Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC) in Canberra and reported the collision.

As this is a preliminary report, the ATSB will now continue its investigations, and is waiting for more information from the Silver Yang.

Based on the initial evidence obtained, the ATSB investigation will be focusing on several areas including:

• the electronic detectability of the yacht
• the lookout being kept on board both vessels
• adherence to the International Regulations for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea (COLREGS)
• collision risk assessment
• actions taken following the collision
• human factors issues associated with the incident.

No doubt there will be many wise old - and young - mariners who have been following the story, and won't need the final report to come to conclusions. At this stage the ATSB has given no indication as to when their final report will be available. Watch this space.