Initial report A crew member slipped while working aloft and fell a few metres onto the deck below. They suffered light bruising and were a bit shocked but there was no lasting injury. They were following the ‘working at height’ procedures correctly and were wearing a safety harness but the leash had been attached to […]
Initial report A pilot boarded a ship using a combination rig. After their embarkation, and while the accommodation ladder was being recovered, the wire falls parted, and the accommodation ladder dropped to the sea and trailed in the water as the vessel was underway to the port. The Master alerted the pilot to what had […]
Initial report While boarding a vessel at sea a pilot found that the combination ladder was affixed solely by overhand knots (see pictures) . These easily unravel if there is strain from the standing part of the rope, e.g., under the weight of a pilot as they ascend or descend the ladder. This type of […]
Initial report A fisher returned to their vessel with a guest in the late evening after they had met ashore. Both had drunk alcohol. It was low tide, and the vessel was approximately 6m below the quay edge due to the tidal range in that port. As they climbed down the vertical quayside ladder, the […]
Initial report A new crew member inspected the ship’s lifesaving equipment to familiarise themselves with the equipment on board. They discovered that the lifting eyes in the ship’s workboat were damaged and loose, which meant it was not the eyes carrying the load but a length of threaded bar which appeared poorly maintained. If the […]
Initial report The reporter informed CHIRP that a tanker was approaching the berth under pilotage with the assistance of tugs. The forward tug was to be released from the tanker’s bow prior to the vessel turning to starboard. The eye of the towing line was secured to the bitts on the forecastle and had a […]
Initial report A lumber carrier embarked a pilot as it approached a loading berth where a tug waited to assist. The pilot requested that the vessel secure the tug’s line to the mooring bitts on the forward deck. After this was achieved, and as the tug came under the line to push up, the tug […]
Initial Report A time-constrained handover took place on board a tanker at anchor the evening prior to a planned canal transit. The off-signing crew of 21, who had been on board for 11 months, were relieved by a complement of 14; the remainder scheduled to join at the next port. Over the following weeks the […]
Initial Report A cargo vessel went to anchor and commenced pumping out ballast water from No1C Water Ballast Tank (WBT) to adjust its trim before a canal transit the following day. Shortly before pumping was completed, the bilge alarm for cargo hold No. 5 WBT activated. The Chief Officer instructed an ordinary seaman to take […]
Initial report “Our work levels continue to be high regardless of the awful impact of COVID and this is further increased by a lack of manning. Some vessels are non-operational due to a variety of reasons causing additional workload on the operational tugs and the crews that man them.” The reporter stated that the fatigue […]