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Another lifeboat incident …

The New Zealand Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) have released a report into the incident onboard the Volendam in January 2011, in which a crew member sadly lost their life.

“On the afternoon of 8 January 2011, the passenger vessel Volendam was alongside in Lyttelton. Some of the crew were carrying out routine maintenance on one of the starboard lifeboats when at about 1400 the forward lifeboat fall wire parted and 2 crew members fell into the water; the lifeboat remained suspended by the aft lifeboat fall wire.”

I won’t go into the details of the incident here, you can read the report summary HERE and download a PDF copy of the report from HERE, but the following points (taken from the report) are of importance to all vessel operators and crews:

Key lessons:

• A wire rope is only as good as its weakest part. Unless an inspection covers the entire length of the wire, a thorough inspection has not been made.
• Wire ropes in a marine environment require frequent and thorough lubrication to prevent corrosion; otherwise other measures will need to be taken to prevent premature failure of the wire ropes.
• When selecting a securing point for a safety harness, consideration should be given to its vulnerability in the event of other catastrophic failures.
• A personal buoyancy device should always be worn when working outside a ship‟s rail.
•  Robust job hazard analysis (JHA) can prevent injuries and save lives, but only if the procedures that result are then followed by the crew.

Having myself been in a davit-stowed lifeboat during filming of our Lifeboat Drills training film, I can vouch for the advice about wearing a buoyancy aid. Although we were as certain as we could be that the equipment was safe, neither I nor the film crew were prepared to take the additional risk.

I would recomend that anyone involved in vessel management or maintenance reads the report and passes on the lessons to their crews.

Opinion disclaimer:

Opinions expressed on this site are those of the individual contributor, and are not necessarily those of Headland Media or Walport International. Accident reports are gathered from multiple sources, and their accuracy is not warranted by the publishers of this blog.