Dutch tribunal suspends Thamesborg officer after Arctic grounding

The Dutch Shipping Disciplinary Court has suspended the first officer of Royal Wagenborg's cargo ship Thamesborg for three weeks, two of them conditional, after the vessel grounded on an uncharted shoal in Canada's Northwest Passage in September 2025. The court found the officer of the watch had not adequately met his responsibility for safe navigation.

The inspectorate (ILT) argued he had not sufficiently accounted for the risks of sailing in a low-CATZOC area, a measure of chart reliability, and had not used the echo sounder properly to monitor under-keel depth; it had sought a six-week suspension. The court largely agreed, saying he should have reduced speed and used the echo sounder continuously rather than relying solely on the approved passage plan.

The Thamesborg grounded at 14 knots on an uncharted 6.4 m shoal in the Franklin Strait while carrying more than 19,000 tonnes of carbon anodes from China to Canada, damaging tanks and taking on water; more than 4,300 tonnes of cargo was offloaded to refloat it after about a month aground.

Source: Schuttevaer (via Maasmond Maritime press clippings).