Investigations revealed that a Navy ship ran aground as an officer went to dinner

A Navy cargo ship that ran aground in Bahrain last year suffered disaster when a senior officer briefly left for dinner, according to a summary of a service investigation.

The dry cargo ship Alan Shepard, a Military Sealift Command ship, was en route for sea trials repairs when it ran aground near the Middle East island nation’s Khalifa Bin Salman port on July 15, 2023, the report said , which a A spokesman for the Central Command of the Naval Forces told the Military Times on Wednesday.

The investigation, completed last August, found that a loss of situational awareness and failure to follow procedures led to the grounding approximately 20 minutes after the ship’s captain left for dinner.

With a crew of civilian sailors licensed by the U.S. Coast Guard, the ship continued its journey from a repair yard to the Bahraini port after the ship’s unnamed captain left the bridge for a meal and another unnamed captain Officer took the helm. But just minutes later, that petty officer turned the vessel into a shoal and grounded it on the soft bottom to avoid colliding with a fishing vessel, the investigation found.

The officer “was unaware of the vessel’s position in relation to the shoals and shallow water while maneuvering the vessel to avoid contact,” the report said, adding that the captain failed to to be present on the bridge as required and whenever The fact that the ship is traveling in restricted waters also played a role in the incident.

The ship was freed from the sand early the next morning with the help of Bahraini tugs and rising tides.

No personnel suffered injuries and there were no operational impacts, said Cmdr. Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for the U.S. 5th Fleet, said previously in a statement to Navy Times.

An inspection by a diver and an examination by the American Bureau of Shipping revealed only minor scratches in the hull’s paint and no other damage.

It’s not the first time a Navy ship has experienced such a mishap, and it wasn’t the only one that happened last year. In August, Navy Times reported that the Japan-based guided-missile destroyer Howard suffered a “soft grounding” while arriving in Bali, Indonesia, for a scheduled port visit.