Freighter Was On Autopilot When It Hit U.S. Destroyer

[Fishrrman]

http://freebeacon.com/national-security/freighter-autopilot-hit-us-destroyer/

Freighter Was On Autopilot When It Hit U.S. Destroyer
By: Bill Gertz
June 23, 2017 @ 5.00am

The deadly collision between a U.S. destroyer and a container ship June 17 took place while the freighter was on autopilot, according to Navy officials.

The Philippines-flagged cargo ship ACX Crystal was under control of a computerized navigation system that was steering and guiding the container vessel, according to officials familiar with preliminary results of an ongoing Navy investigation.

Investigators so far found no evidence the collision was deliberate.

Nevertheless, an accident during computerized navigation raises the possibility the container ship's computer system could have been hacked and the ship deliberately steered into the USS Fitzgerald, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer.

A more likely explanation is that collision was the result of an autopilot malfunction, or the autopilot's warning signals, used to notify the ship's operators, were missed.

The destroyer was severely damaged when the protruding undersea bow of the cargo ship struck Fitzgerald on the right side. Seven sailors died as a result and the captain and two others were injured. It was the Navy's worst accident at sea.

The two ships hit about 64 miles off the coast of Japan.

The collision occurred at around 1:30 a.m. local time but was not reported by the freighter's crew until around 2:25 a.m. Investigators believe the time lag was the result of the crew not realizing they had hit another ship.

Commercial ship autopilot systems normally require someone to input manually the course for the ship travel. The computer program then steers the ship by controlling the steering gear to turn the rudder.

The system also can be synchronized with an electronic chart system to allow the program to follow courses of a voyage plan.

Tracking data broadcast from the Crystal as part of the Automatic Identification System (AIS) shows the ship changed course by 90 degrees to the right and slightly reduced its speed between around 1:32 a.m. and 1:34 a.m. After that time, the data shows the ship turned to the left and resumed a northeastern coarse along its original track line.

Private naval analyst Steffan Watkins said the course data indicates the ship was running on autopilot. "The ACX Crystal  powered out of the deviation it performed at 1:30, which was likely the impact with the USS Fitzgerald, pushing it off course while trying to free itself from being hung on the bow below the waterline," Watkins told the Free Beacon.

The ship then continued to sail on for another 15 minutes, increasing speed before eventually reducing speed and turning around. "This shows the autopilot was engaged because nobody would power out of an accident with another ship and keep sailing back on course. It’s unthinkable," he added.

Watkins said the fact that the merchant ship hit something and did not radio the coast guard for almost 30 minutes also indicates no one was on the bridge at the time of the collision.

By 2:00 a.m., the freighter had turned around and headed back to the earlier position, according to the tracking data.

The officials said the Crystal eventually came upon the stricken Fitzgerald.

The Fitzgerald's AIS data was not available so its track was not reported publicly.

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson traveled to Japan to oversee the transfer of the fallen sailors.

"There are multiple U.S. and Japanese investigations underway to determine the facts of the collision," Richardson said in a statement. "Our goal is to learn all we can to prevent future accidents from occurring. This process will unfold as quickly as possible, but it's important to get this right."

According to the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, initial reports on the incident indicate no crew member was manning the controls in the pilot house of the Crystal when it hit the Fitzgerald.

After impact, the freighter's was not immediately aware that it had collided with anything and continued sailing. The ship's crew then realized it had been in a collision and sailed back to try to determine what had happened.

Transport safety authorities and coast guard investigators in Japan on Thursday announced the data recorder from the Crystal had been secured, the Associated Press reported. The freighter is currently docked in the port of Yokohama, near Tokyo.

The Navy and Coast Guard are investigating the incident. The Fitzgerald is currently at its home port of Yokosuka naval base. The investigation is expected to be completed in several months.

For the Navy, investigators are trying to determine why the ship's radar and other sensors did not detect the Crystal in time to take steps to avoid the collision.

The Fitzgerald is equipped with the AN/SPS-64 advanced military navigation radar, and also uses a commercial radar system to enhance the shipping traffic picture of ships in its vicinity.

Navy ships operate radar systems to detect approaching ships or submarines. Lookouts posted on the bridge are responsible for detecting ships that pose a risk of collision.

Additionally, all commercial ships over 300 tons are required under international rules to operate AIS location data. AIS information from Crystal should have been monitored by sailors on the bridge of the Fitzgerald.

The sailors aboard the 505-foot-long Fitzgerald waged what officials said was a heroic battle about the ship to seal off flooding after the collision.

"We were struck by the stories of heroism and sacrifice—by both the sailors on board and their families back home—as they fought the damage to their ship and brought her back to Yokosuka," Richardson said.

The ship was not in danger of sinking but was listing to one side and was able to remain under its own power.

Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin, commander of the U.S. 7th Fleet told reporters the Fitzgerald suffered extensive flooding and damage caused by a large puncture below the waterline on the starboard side underneath the pilot house.

The ship's commander, Cmdr. Bryce Benson was airlifted by Japanese coast guard helicopter. Two other injured sailors also were evacuated. All appear to have injuries that are not life threatening.

The officials said Benson was in his stateroom at the time of the collision.

The Fitzgerald was commissioned in 1995 and has a crew of some 300 crew members. It has a top speed of 30 knots and is armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles, SM-1 anti-ship and anti-submarine missiles, as well as machine guns and torpedoes.

The Crystal was built in South Korea, is 730 feet long and capable of carrying up to 2,858 shipping containers.

The Crystal is classified as a mid-size container ship part of the Asia Container Express or ACX, an Asian container shipping trade subsidiary of NYK Line, a global shipping division of Japan's Mitsubishi.

(some of original article omitted -- see above URL for complete article)

[Frank Cannon]

So Tesla is also making auto-pilot for boats too?

[bigheadfred]

So Tesla is also making auto-pilot for boats too?

Maybe someone is now up for a Stella Award. In this case, maybe, an Interstella Award.


7. December 1997: Kara Walton of Claymont, Delaware successfully sued the owner of a night club in a neighboring city when she fell from the bathroom window to the floor and knocked out her two front teeth. This occurred while Ms. Walton was trying to sneak through the window in the ladies room to avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge. She was awarded $12,000.00 and dental expenses.


6. June 1998: A 19 year old Carl Truman of Los Angeles won $74,000.00 and medical expenses when his neighbor ran his hand over with a Honda Accord. Mr. Truman apparently didn’t notice someone was at the wheel of the car whose hubcap he was trying to steal.

5. October 1998: A Terrence Dickson of Bristol Pennsylvania was exiting a house he finished robbing by way of the garage. He was not able to get the garage door to go up, because the automatic door opener was malfunctioning. He couldn’t re-enter the house because the door connecting the house and garage locked when he pulled it shut. The family was on vacation, so Mr. Dickson found himself locked in the garage for eight days. He subsisted on a case of Pepsi he found, and a large bag of dry dog food. This upset Mr. Dickson, so he sued the homeowner’s insurance claiming the situation caused him undue mental anguish. The jury agreed to the tune of half a million dollars and change.

4. October 1999: Jerry Williams of Little Rock Arkansas was awarded $14,500.00 and medical expenses after being bitten on the buttocks by his next door neighbor’s beagle. The beagle was on a chain in its owner’s fenced-in yard, as was Mr. Williams. The award was less than sought after because the jury felt the dog may have been provoked by Mr. Williams who, at the time, was shooting it repeatedly with a pellet gun.

3. May 2000: A Philadelphia restaurant was ordered to pay Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania $113,500.00 after she slipped on a spilled soft drink and broke her coccyx. The beverage was on the floor because Ms. Carson threw it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument.

2.January 2000: Kathleen Robertson of Austin Texas was awarded $780,000.00 by a jury of her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was running amuck inside a furniture store. The owners of the store were understandably surprised at the verdict, considering the misbehaving tyke was Ms. Robertson’s son.

1. In November 2000, Mr. Grazinski purchased a brand new 32 foot Winnebago motor home. On his first trip home, having joined the freeway, he set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the drivers seat to go into the back and make himself a cup of coffee. Not surprisingly, the Winnie left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Mr. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not advising him in the handbook that he could not actually do this. He was awarded $1,750,000 plus a new Winnebago.

Maybe we have the makings here for a new leader.

[Suppressed]

So Tesla is also making auto-pilot for boats too?

I'm waiting for the country songs with the singer lamenting his truck left him.

[catfish1957]

Maybe someone is now up for a Stella Award. In this case, maybe, an Interstella Award.

Honorable mention.....

The Michael Brown family received $1.5M today from the city of Ferguson today,   Where else but in America can you rob a store, confront a cop, and posthumously become a millionaire.

[240B]

For the Navy, investigators are trying to determine why the ship's radar and other sensors did not detect the Crystal in time to take steps to avoid the collision.

The Fitzgerald is equipped with the AN/SPS-64 advanced military navigation radar, and also uses a commercial radar system to enhance the shipping traffic picture of ships in its vicinity.

Navy ships operate radar systems to detect approaching ships or submarines. Lookouts posted on the bridge are responsible for detecting ships that pose a risk of collision.


Additionally, all commercial ships over 300 tons are required under international rules to operate AIS location data. AIS information from Crystal should have been monitored by sailors on the bridge of the Fitzgerald.


These are questions I have been asking since I first heard of this. It is not so interesting to me what the container ship was, or was not, doing. I am interested in how the bridge officer, the radar operators, the helmsman, the signalman, multiple watch stations on deck, plus multiple overlapping and redundant electronic systems, all failed simultaneously. This is what the Navy will be investigating.


The cargo vessel should never have been allowed to get close enough to a Naval Warship for a collision to occur regardless of which navigation system it was using. The most vexing part of this incident, is that today, a cargo ship should not be able to ram a Destroyer even if it was actively trying to, much less by accident. I'm looking forward to hearing what happened. Prayers to everyone involved.

[Sanguine]

Where's that graphic of that very complex course the tanker took?  That was done on auto-pilot?

[thackney]

ACX Crystal Bkmk

[Elderberry]

Where's that graphic of that very complex course the tanker took?  That was done on auto-pilot?

My guess is the collision occurred at the first hard turn to starboard and the autopilot was disabled when the U-turn was performed.

[Sanguine]

My guess is the collision occurred at the first hard turn to starboard.

I'm totally ignorant here* - would it have turned hard to starboard on autopilot?

*Except for what I learned from Horatio Hornblower.

[Elderberry]

I'm totally ignorant here* - would it have turned hard to starboard on autopilot?

*Except for what I learned from Horatio Hornblower.

The hard turn was made because the freighter's bulbous bow was impaled into the Fitzgerald's side.

Private naval analyst Steffan Watkins said the course data indicates the ship was running on autopilot. "The ACX Crystal  powered out of the deviation it performed at 1:30, which was likely the impact with the USS Fitzgerald, pushing it off course while trying to free itself from being hung on the bow below the waterline," Watkins told the Free Beacon.

[Sanguine]

The hard turn was made because the freighter's bulbous bow was impaled into the Fitzgerald's side.

OK, thanks.  That explains the random-looking pattern after the impact.

[Elderberry]

OK, thanks.  That explains the random-looking pattern after the impact.

The pattern after impact was the autopilot putting the ship back on course. The U-turn was most likely performed when the crew discovered their damage and surmised they hit something and went back to look.

[DB]

The destroyer crew has some serious explaining to do. Short of a sudden power loss it is hard to think of an acceptable excuse. If they were dead in the water and unable to move before being hit that would make some sense.

[Elderberry]

The destroyer crew has some serious explaining to do. Short of a sudden power loss it is hard to think of an acceptable excuse. If they were dead in the water and unable to move before being hit that would make some sense.

That would be the only thing that would make any sense to me as well.

[DB]

The pattern after impact was the autopilot putting the ship back on course. The U-turn was most likely performed when the crew discovered their damage and surmised they hit something and went back to look.

That's how I read it too. The damage to the destroyer due be being hit on the side isn't very wide meaning it doesn't look like the destroyer was moving very quickly if at all when hit. Otherwise you would think there'd be some scraping/smearing in one direction across more of the ship from the collision.

[240B]

I agree with the general analysis here in terms of the Destroyer being in some kind of 'distress' situation. As was said, I suppose it could have been DIW, possibly with power issues of some kind. This would explain why the radars were not working.


The only other remote possibility is that the Cargo Ship was running without the required lights for some reason. If all the lights were out on the Crystal, with cloudy conditions and no moon, it is somewhat possible that the ship could have sort of snuck up on the Destroyer. The ocean can be pitch black at night under certain conditions, and the constant general noise of the ocean could have covered the ship's approach.


The other 'lights' issue could be if one of the running lights, port(red) or starboard(green), were not working, this would misdirect watchmen observing the Cargo Ship in terms of what direction it was actually heading. That is, if a ship is heading straight on, and all you can see is the port light, you would think that you are looking at the port side of the ship and that it is going to pass safely. It would cause the watchmen to believe that the ship's heading is 90 degrees different than the actual course. However the odds of this are very remote. It could, under the exact right conditions, happen, but not really. And the Destroyer's radars would have to be nonfunctional for this to even be an issue.


The last odd detail about this is, if the Destroyer was in some kind of a distress situation, What was the Captain doing in his stateroom? Yes, the XO can handle it, but normally both would be on the bridge until whatever the issues are causing the ship to be in a vulnerable position, get resolved. It is possible that the Captain said to the XO or the bridge officer, 'You take over. I'm going to bed.' But I can't see that happening.


Lot's of unanswered questions in this incident. I will be watching the investigation with interest.