The ship's managers' (CMA CGM) safety management system procedures and guidance for steering gear operation across its fleet were ambiguous and did not clarify the different terminology to those commonly used by the industry. This increased the risk of incorrect configuration of the steering gear, which occurred on board CMA CGM Puccini.
As the proposed amended procedure is in draft and review stages, the ATSB will monitor the safety issue and reassess its status once the amended procedure has been implemented.
Response by CMA CGM
Following the incident, CMA CGM shared details of the incident with all ships in its fleet and then, in 2024, an article was published in the CMA CGM Group monthly quality safety, security and environment management report. This article was directed to company designated persons ashore and briefly outlined the incident and the misconfiguration of the pump bypass valve as the likely cause.
In order to address the safety issue, CMA CGM further has advised the ATSB that its fleetwide ‘steering gear failure’ procedure has been amended and titled as the ‘emergency steering procedure’. The amended draft procedure defines emergency steering and clearly outlines the change of steering control from the navigation bridge to the steering gear room. The draft procedure is to be assessed by the company’s technical committee before it is finalised for an expected fleetwide implementation in March 2025.
ATSB comment
The ATSB welcomes the action taken by CMA CGM to address the safety issue. The ATSB will await confirmation of the implementation of the amended procedure and reassess the status of the safety issue.
