At about 1000 on Friday, November 30, 2001, the BBC PERU experienced a main engine speed control system failure about 12.5 miles west of Buoy "J" at the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and began drifting without propulsion. The 108-meter (354-foot), 6204 gross ton, general cargo ship, built in 2001, had departed Seattle's Pier 37 at 2225 on November 29th en route to Australia with a cargo of heavy equipment. The ship was carrying about 400 metric tons (about 110,000 gallons) of oil as fuel.
Chart section showing approximate location of the BBC PERU’s loss of propulsion. Select to enlarge.
Winds on-scene were 15 to 25 knots out of the south-southeast. Swells averaged 8 to 12 feet. Wind waves were about 4 to 5 feet. Trouble for the BBC PERU began shortly after encountering these seas and swells as the ship's main engine over-speed and overload alarms began to sound, and the electronic speed control system began hunting (swinging excessively around the set-point).
At 1050 the U.S. Coast Guard's Puget Sound Vessel Traffic Service was notified via Tofino Traffic of the incident. The U.S. Coast Guard issued a Captain of the Port Order for the BBC PERU to obtain tug assistance.
The State-funded rescue tug stationed at Neah Bay, BARBARA FOSS, was the nearest available tug. The BARBARA FOSS was notified at 1115 and dispatched to assist, getting under way within 15 minutes to make the 21-mile run to the BBC PERU's position near latitude 48-30' north, longitude 125-06' west.
The marine weather forecast was for winds increasing to 40 knots out of the south with seas building to 15 feet that evening.
The BARBARA FOSS encountered the high seas on departing the more sheltered waters of the Strait and was forced to slow down. Meanwhile, aboard the BBC PERU, the engineering staff was attempting to effect repairs.
At 1325, with the BARBARA FOSS en route, the BBC PERU regained partial propulsion (about half-power, by manually controlling the fuel rack) and began the transit east to the Strait. The two vessels conducted a pre-escort conference via radio at 1340, and by 1355 the BARBARA FOSS had taken a position behind the BBC PERU, now making about 7.5 knots, to escort it to Port Angeles for repairs.
The BBC PERU was anchored without further incident at 2355 in Port Angeles harbor, under the guidance of a Puget Sound pilot, and with the assistance of the BARBARA FOSS.
BBC PERU at anchor in Port Angeles, Washington. Select to enlarge. (Photo by Dodge Kenyon)
Follow-up investigation by an Ecology vessel inspector indicated that the electronic speed control system aboard the BBC PERU had been hunting the previous month when the ship was in Europe, but had given the crew no trouble during the voyage to Washington. A technician was aboard the ship to service the system when the ship left Seattle on November 29th en route for the pilot station. He reported finding no problems and of making only minor adjustments before departing the ship at the Port Angeles pilot station.
The ship was delayed for three or four days while a replacement fuel rack actuator (a component of the speed control system) was shipped. The replacement was installed and sea-trial successfully under the supervision of the ship's classification society.
The cause of the malfunction is still under investigation.
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