Do we know what manning was actually in place on the NES?
Do we actually know what the requirements are for a foreign tug in Canadian waters?
Do we know if the NES was actually in compliance with the regs in place?
The answers to your queries are 1. Yes. 2. Yes. 3. Yes. The normal watch standing hours are either 6 on, 6 off, or for certain vessels 4 on, 8 off. Industry wide the normal watch change hours are 0600, 1200, 1800 and 2400 for 6 and 6. (or 0400, 0800, 1200, 1600, 2000, 2400 for 4 and 8.) So either way, this incident occurred an hour 15 after assuming the watch. Canada cannot 'mandate' different watch standing requirements on foreign vessels. The vessels are supposed to observe international requirements. (that's the crux of the issue) Tugs are in a grey area with no foreign equivalent for manning)
And your last question is so simplistic it begs answering. If the NES was in compliance (providing an adequate lookout while underway) then this incident would NOT have occurred. (Even IF one can 'act' as their own lookout while navigating, that is hard do accomplish while eyes are shut.) If the interaction between the navigation officer and a separate lookout was even present that would be enough (IMHO) to prevent just about all these types of incidents.
There are two distinct types of groundings. Powered and Unpowered.
They are said to be this way because they have the distinction of being 'driven aground' which almost always entails human error. And unpowered groundings which could (but there are exceptions) be caused by mother nature.
Looking at the shot of the NES wheels it is evident which kind of grounding this was. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to divine the truth. Waiting for the NTSB report will be like waiting for jello to set up. You 'know' what the result will be. But is it necessary to wait to see it happen?
Regarding the Canadian rules, try looking at this link.
https://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg5/TVNCOE/documents/toolbag/UTVGUIDEBOOK.pdf Look on page 18 for the paragraph with this content:
A helmsman cannot stand as his own lookout.
However..... the tonnage of the NES allows it not be required to follow SOLAS regs. So back at the original conundrum. What 'should be followed' (using prudent seamanship) is not required to be followed by law. ANY law From any organization. Also, GT is a US measurement. Tonnage or ITC International Tonnage is different. The regs are parsed to refer to GT not ITC. Go figure. BUT once a vessel exceeds 200 GT, ALL the higher level laws pertain to manning, equipment and solas. Unfortunately the NES was one (of many) rule beaters that fall between the cracks of the regs.