It was late autumn and the vessel had loaded timber logs. A large portion of the cargo was loaded on deck. The Chief Officer had overseen the loading and the crew had secured the cargo. This was a normal operation that the crew had carried out many times before. The vessel was fully loaded and did not have much ballast on board.
During the voyage to the destination port the crew checked and secured the cargo as required. The weather during the voyage was favourable at about 4 on the Beaufort scale, so there were no strong winds or difficult seas. There was no roll during the voyage. When the vessel neared to land, the Chief Officer pumped out more ballast so the vessel had a lesser draft. The Chief Officer believed that the vessel was just around the permissible draught at departure so he wanted a lesser draught when berthing. As the vessel was approaching the port, one of the ABs went forward to prepare for arrival.
At the same time as the vessel altered course, a heavy gust of wind hit the side of it and caused it to list almost 20° causing the deck cargo to shift. As a result the vessel began to list almost 40°. This had a spiralling effect and the lashings started to break and
logs fell into the sea.
At the same time the AB on the bow fell into the water because of the excessive list. He wasn’t wearing a life jacket. He could be seen holding on to some logs. The Master on the bridge lost sight of him for a while during the tumultuous event and when he looked for the AB again he couldn’t see him. The Chief Officer, who was also on the bridge, had released the MOB light from the bridge wing and also thrown another lifebuoy towards the AB. The Master called the VTS on the radio and informed them yhat they had a man overboard and that they had lost sight of him and needed assistance.Because of all the timber that had fallen overboard, the vessel started to right itself. The vessel still had a list of about 10°.
The Master also ordered the anchor to be dropped and launched the MOB boat to search for the AB.
The AB was never found.
Questions
When discussing this case please consider that the
actions taken at the time made sense for all involved. Do
not only judge but also ask why you think these actions
were taken and could this happen on your vessel?
- What were the immediate causes of this accident?
- Is there a risk that this kind of accident could
happen on our vessel? - How could this accident have been prevented?
- Is it a requirement to wear a life jacket when
working on deck? - How do we ensure that we maintain proper stability
during the entire voyage? - Do we recalculate stability during a ballast
operation?
- How often do we inspect the cargo-securing
equipment? - Do we have certificates for the required cargosecuring
equipment? - If we have straps how often are they inspected?
- If straps are found cut are they immediately
replaced? - What sections of our SMS would have been
breached if any? - Does our SMS address these risks?
- How could we improve our SMS to address these
issues? - What do you think was the root cause of this
accident? - Is there any kind of training that we could do that
addresses these issues?
MSS Case February: Poor stability caused man overboard
A timber-loaded vessel experienced a severe list due to shifting deck cargo while approaching port. A sudden gust of wind, combined with reduced ballast, caused instability, leading to lost cargo and a crew member falling overboard, ultimately prompting an emergency response.
For more Loss Prevention information, please contact:
Joakim Enström, Loss Prevention Officer
E-mail: joakim.enstrom@swedishclub.com
Each month, the Club’s Loss Prevention team issues a new safety scenario to assist members in their efforts to comply with international safety regulations and follow best practices.