SIMIC

THE Maryland Board of Pilots will prohibit on-duty pilots from phone use after a distracted pilot ran the Ever Forward aground in Chesapeake Bay last March, reports London's Port Technology.
Board Chairman, Sandy Steeves, said in a statement: "The job of a state-licensed pilot requires absolute attention and focus on the job of safety piloting, navigating, manoeuvring, anchoring, docking or undocking a vessel."
On the evening of March 13, 2022, the Ever Forward departed Seagirt Marine Terminal in Baltimore with a certified Maryland senior pilot on the bridge. The 12,000 TEU ship was sailing in calm, clear weather into Norfolk.
As Ever Forward reached a curve in the channel, the pilot provided no commands to adjust the course as he was preoccupied with his phone. When he realized something wasn't right, the ship had already overshot its turn by a full minute at full forward. To prevent a grounding he issued orders, but it was already too late.
A coast guard had claimed that the situation could have been easily avoided had the pilot refrained from drafting email correspondence and placing and receiving personal or nonprofessional phone calls.
It was discovered by investigators that the pilot had spent a total of some 126 minutes on the phone before running aground.
The pilot in question had his licence suspended by the Maryland Board of Pilots in October, but he was given the chance to request an appeals hearing.