At about 20:00 on 29 October 2013, the general cargo ship Bosphorus grounded at Lytton Rocks Reach in the Brisbane River after the ship’s helmsman unintentionally put the helm the wrong way. At about 20:00, the pilot aboard the general cargo ship Bosphorus observed that the ship was not steady but swinging to starboard towards shallow water. He ordered ‘midships’ immediately followed by ‘port 10’. The helmsman responded verbally with ‘port 10’ but instead applied 10° of starboard helm. The pilot then ordered ‘port 20’ and then ‘hard to port’. Each time the helmsman repeated the order but applied starboard helm. Within 9 seconds, the pilot noticed that the wheel was still to starboard and then shouted ‘you’re going to starboard’. The third mate then intervened and swung the wheel hard to port. At 20:01, Bosphorus grounded at the Lytton Rocks Reach Channel.
1 | Incident snapshot
| Local grounding time | 20:01 |
| Manoeuvre | Starboard turn through Lytton Rocks Reach, next course 199 ° |
| Pilot’s helm sequence | “Starboard 5 … Starboard 10 … Mid-ships … Port 10 … Port 20 … Hard-to-port” |
| Execution error | Helmsman repeated each order but put the wheel to starboard; rudder reached hard-starboard 〉 WRONG WAY |
| Result | Ship left the channel and grounded on the eastern edge (27 ° 24.0 S / 153 ° 09.1 E); refloated 30 min later, no pollution |
Key contributor: neither pilot nor officers noticed the wrong-way rudder for about nine seconds—too late to prevent grounding.
2 | HOM cue that addresses this error
| Bridge cue (advisory) | When it appears* | What the crew see/hear |
|---|---|---|
| WRONG HELM banner + a short audible signal | Rudder begins moving opposite to the spoken order | Immediate prompt: “Wheel is the wrong way—correct now.” |
Cue never locks controls or asks for an acknowledgment.
3 | Alternate timeline with HOM active
| Time (approx.) | Real event | HOM cue | Likely bridge response |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20:00:00 | Pilot orders “Port 10” | — | — |
| 20:00:02 | Wheel starts 10 ° starboard (error) | WRONG HELM banner + brief sound | Pilot & master spot mismatch; helm ordered to port |
| 20:00:15 | Rudder now swinging to port | Banner disappears automatically | Ship regains planned track inside channel |
| 20:01 | (Grounding in reality) | — | No grounding, voyage continues normally |
4 | Safety margin gained
- Wrong-direction helm identified in ≤ 3 s, while the vessel was still about 0.2 NM from the shoal edge.
- Prompt correction keeps track inside dredged limits—avoids contact, tug assistance, and delay.
Take-home message
Bosphorus grounded because a simple wheel-direction mistake went unnoticed for a few seconds. Helm Order Monitor’s WRONG HELM banner, reinforced by a brief sound signal, would have surfaced that mismatch instantly, giving the bridge team the clear prompt needed to correct the helm and stay safely in the channel.
