Page 11: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (October 2004)

Asleep at the Wheel

Dennis L. Bryant, Senior Maritime

Counsel at the law firm of Holland & Knight, Washington, D.C., is a contributing editor of MR/EN.

On the morning of June 29, 2003. the general cargo vessel JAMBO grounded off the Summer Islands on the west coast of Scotland. The primary cause of the grounding and subsequent total loss of the ship was that the chief officer on watch fell asleep and missed his intended change of course. He was awakened by the grounding. The root cause of the casualty was extreme fatigue - the result of a long period of standing six-on, six-off watches combined with cargo load- ing/unloading duties when the ship was in port.

Unfortunately, this type casualty is not rare.

Marine casualties in U.S. waters in which seafarer fatigue was cited as a major casual factor include, but are not limited to: a) Grounding of the passenger car-ferry A.

REGINAon Mona Island, Puerto Rico on February 15, 1985; b) Collision between the USS RICHARD L.

PAGE (FFG-5) and the fishing vessel CHICKADEE in the Atlantic Ocean on April 21, 1987; c) Collision between the ferries NORTH STAR and CAPE HENLOPEN at Orient Point, Long Island on July 9. 1987; d) Grounding of the tankship WORLD PRODI-

GY off the coast of Rhode Island on June 23, 1989; and e) Grounding of the passenger ship STAR

PRINCESS on Poundstone Rock, Lynn Canal, Alaska on June 23. 1995.

The marine industry and its regulatory bodies have recognized for some time the dangers posed by fatigue.

Little has been done, though, to remedy the problem.

The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) in each of its Annual Reports since at least 1998 has cited fatigue among seafarers as a significant risk factor. The U.S. Coast Guard and the New

Zealand Maritime Safety Authority have also recog- nized the danger to marine safety caused by fatigue and sleep deprivation.

The Annex to the International Convention for the

Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS Convention) provides, at

Newspaper Notice

Washington State Ferries

NEW 130-AUTO FERRIES

DIESEL GENERATOR CONTRACT

NO. 00-6678

Washington State Ferries

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

Washington State Ferries, a division of the Washington State Department of

Transportation (hereinafter called "WSF"), requests proposals from firms who wish to be considered for the following described project:

A procurement contract to provide WSF complete, new diesel generators, consisting of Ship Service Diesel Generator (SSDG) and Emergency

Generator sets and related items for four (4) planned new 130-auto ferries.

The Contract shall be for sixteen (16) generator sets (4 sets per vessel), con- sisting of twelve (12) SSDG sets (3 per vessel) and four (4) Emergency

Generator sets (1 per vessel). The Contract shall also include spare compo- nents and special tools. The diesel generator procurement shall include: all design, manufacturing, fabrication, delivery, commissioning, training, test- ing and regulatory agency certifications for the new generator sets.

The Delivery Dates for all of the generator sets shall be as specified in the

Request for Proposals (RFP). The delivery of the initial generator sets shall be no later than March 15, 2007, subject to amendment during the RFP process. The delivery schedule for the remaining generator sets shall be as specified in the RFP.

The generator installations will all be accomplished by the shipyard con- tracted by WSF to build the new 130-auto ferries, at a facility within Puget

Sound, Washington, per estimated schedules listed in the RFP.

The proposal due date/time is 1:00 pm on October 26, 2004. This Contract will be partially funded by either the Federal Transit Administration or the Federal Highway

Administration. Certified Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE's) are encouraged to participate in the RFP process.

The formal RFP package for the project is available upon request for the non-refundable fee of $100.00. The RFP will also be posted on the following WSF web site on or after September 28th: www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/contracts.

Informational copies of the RFP package will be on file at various plan centers, WSDOT

Support Services/Seattle SBA and at WSF.

Legal Services and Contracts Department

Washington State Ferries 2911 2nd Avenue Telephone: 206.515.3606 (recording)

Seattle, Washington 98121-1012 Telefax: 206.515.3605

WSF assumes no obligation of any kind for expenses incurred by a respondent to this

Notice or the RFP package.

Circle 260 on Reader Service Card

October 2004 11