Page 14 - 2022 - Q4 - Minerva in Focus

SAFETY & SECURITY Safety Digest:

Mooring deck accident

Figure 1 Figure 2
The Incident
[occurred onboard a vessel of another company]

On 30 August 2021, the chief officer (C/O) of a Bulk Carrier named All three stern lines were led through a single closed fairlead
Teal Bay was fatally injured when he was struck on the head on the port side of the other vessel’s deck and placed over bitts
by a tensioned mooring line that sprang out of an open roller (Figure 2).
fairlead. The vessel was loading grain when moored alongside an
anchored bulk carrier. The mooring line that was being used to There were five closed Panama7 fairleads around the aft mooring
pull the vessel forward sprang free when its lead angle became deck, three at the stern and one on each side, close to the stowed
too great for the open fairlead to restrain it. accommodation ladders.
The C/O was struck because he was standing in a hazardous area Loading was close to completion when the vessel was requested the
close to a mooring line under significant tension (Figure 1). The forward move, and the master was motivated to execute the operation
operation to move Teal Bay forward had not been risk-assessed and finish loading. This desire to get the job done and the short
and was undertaken with insufficient crew. The use of an open distance to be moved may have contributed to him pressing ahead with
roller fairlead was inappropriate during a ship-to-ship (STS) neither a clear plan nor risk assessment.
transfer operation where a freeboard differential between the
two vessels was foreseeable and created the hazard of a high With little time to plan and recourse to inadequate knowledge to draw
lead angle on mooring lines. on, the crew led both aft springs through an open fairlead without
appreciating that this was unsuitable for STS operations due to the
The vessel was moored starboard side alongside. The three stern likelihood of an upward lead developing.
lines were rigged from the port side of the aft mooring deck. Two
were attached to the port mooring winch drums and led through The vessel’s mooring arrangement was unsuitable for the STS loading
open roller fairleads at the stern; the third was secured to a set of operation because the crew had limited time to plan and were faced
double bitts and led through a closed fairlead (Figure 1). with an unfamiliar loading arrangement and a lack of guidance. Thus,
they did not recognise the risk of using the open fairlead.

Lessons Learned

• STS transfers are high-risk operations requiring a thorough risk assessment to identify all the applicable hazards and apply the
necessary mitigating measures.
• A meeting prior to the operation with all involved parties to discuss these measures will ensure adequate enforcement.
• The condition of the vessel’s mooring equipment, as well as the condition of any 3rd party mooring lines, must be assessed and
confirmed satisfactory before the operation.
• Any change in the mooring arrangements must be thoroughly planned and effectively risk-assessed by all involved personnel
prior to any implementation attempt.

14 MINERVA IN FOCUS – ISSUE 22 / Q4 2022 Source: Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB)