A harbor pilot averted disaster in Port of Tampa Bay when the ship narrowly missed making impact with another vessel.
The incident took place on Thursday morning, as the harbor pilot Ken Sears climbed on board a cargo ship to direct the final leg of its journey. The nearly 1,000-foot long ship carrying 100,000 tons of cargo experienced a mechanical failure not allowing it to stop as it went into the port.
“I ordered the engine to stern, start reversing, you know, essentially put the brakes on for lack of a better term, and when I asked for that, the engine did not start going in reverse.” Sears said.
According to Sears, they lost control of the engine only a few hundred feet from docking as it headed toward a crane and another ship in a potential head-on collision.
“So as the ship gradually slowed down going past its final mark, I was able to eventually get the ship speed under control and the angle away from the dock to where nothing that was endangering the ship was heading out towards open water.” Sears said.
The pilot was able to redirect the two tugboats to help slow down the ship, avoiding a potentially disastrous outcome. Sears says he was just doing his job.
“It’s easy for this kind of thing to fade into the background,” he said. “It’s only when there’s a disaster are we reminded of what’s really at stake and an event like this morning shows that it can happen and still end alright.”
Port of Tampa Bay said the near-crash was reported to the Coast Guard, who oversees matters of this nature. They said no damages nor injuries were reported.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.