On August 8, 2022, about 1417 local time, the 154-foot-long US Coast Guard cutter Winslow Griesser (WPC-1116) and the 23-foot-long center-console boat Desakata collided about 4 miles off the northern coast of Puerto Rico. The cutter, with a crew of 21, was transiting westbound along the coast, and the boat was transiting northbound while trolling (fishing). Of the two Desakata crewmembers, one was seriously injured, and one was fatally injured. None of the Winslow Griesser crewmembers were injured. No pollution was reported. The Desakata, valued at $58,800, was a total loss.
We found that because neither vessel’s crew saw the other vessel in the developing crossing situation before the collision, neither had time to assess or apply the navigation rules to avoid the collision. The Winslow Griesser should have been visible to the Desakata operator before the collision, but the operator was not maintaining a proper lookout. Similarly, the Desakata should have been visible to the Winslow Griesser crewmembers before the collision, but the bridge watchstanders were not maintaining a proper lookout. We also found that the Winslow Griesser commanding officer and officer of the deck did not take sufficient measures to increase situational awareness when the cutter was transiting at high speed.
During the investigation, the Winslow Griesser commanding officer, officer of the deck, and quartermaster of the watch declined requests of National Transportation Safety Board investigators to be interviewed based on advice of their counsel. We found that, had the Winslow Griesser been equipped with a voyage data recorder, or its equivalent, investigators would have been provided with additional critical factual information about the collision, which could help identify potential safety issues and result in safety improvements.
We also found that fitting small vessels with equipment—such as radar reflectors or automatic identification systems—when combined with proper visual lookout, would improve the opportunity for vessels with radar to detect them, therefore reducing the risk of a collision.
We determined that the probable cause of the collision between the US Coast Guard cutter Winslow Griesser and the center-console boat Desakata was the failure by both vessels’ crews to maintain a proper lookout. Contributing to the casualty was the Winslow Griesser commanding officer and officer of the deck not taking sufficient measures to increase situational awareness while transiting at a high speed.
Lessons learned from tragedies like this collision can be useful as training tools and for reviewing current watchstanding (in particular lookout) practices to identify weaknesses and find areas for improvement. Therefore, we recommended that the Coast Guard provide information about the circumstances of this collision to cutter crews and emphasize the importance of maintaining a proper lookout and ensuring situational awareness when transiting at high speed.
Charged by Congress as the only independent investigator of Coast Guard casualties, the NTSB requires the availability of objective, time-stamped data, such as that provided by a voyage data recorder, to complete timely and thorough investigations that involve Coast Guard cutters. Voyage data recorders are one of the most valuable sources of information following a marine casualty because they maintain continuous, sequential records of data relating to a ship’s equipment and its command and control, and they also capture bridge audio. Although investigators gathered vital information from camera footage, interviews with crewmembers not on watch, and other sources, the presence of a voyage data recorder on board the Winslow Griesser would have provided access to additional critical data. Therefore, we recommended that the Coast Guard install equipment on all cutters that records vessel parametric data and audio information that is equivalent to International Maritime Organization voyage data recorder performance standards.
