The Bahamas Maritime Authority has issued Information Bulletin which details the incident reporting procedures for Bahamian ships.
This Bulletin should be read in conjunction with Sections 149 and 240A of the Merchant Shipping Act; SOLAS Regulation XI-1/6; IMO Resolution MSC.255(84) and Maritime Labour Convention 2006 Regulation 4.3. Furthermore it applies to all ships and yachts registered under the Bahamas Merchant Shipping Act.
One of the primary purposes of incident reporting and investigations is to learn lessons for the future. An unreported incident potentially diminishes the possibility of improving safety. Accurate and timely reporting by owners and managers will be viewed positively by the Bahamas Maritime Authority (BMA); as such reports help to produce much needed records and will assist in ensuring that the BMA mounts an appropriate reaction and response.
Section 240A of the Merchant Shipping Act requires the owner or master of a Bahamian ship to report any incident in which the ship “…has sustained or caused any accident occasioning loss of life or any serious injury to any person or has received any material damage affecting her seaworthiness or her efficiency either in her hull or in any part of her machinery…”. The Owner or Master is required to report particulars of an incident to the BMA to the fullest extent at the earliest opportunity.
Typical operational incidents which are to be reported include the following
- Navigational: collision, grounding, loss of control, COLREGS violations.
- Hull, machinery or equipment: hull damage (contact, collision, heavy weather) or failure, machinery or equipment damage or failure, fire or explosion, total loss.
- Stability: listing, flooding, foundering, capsize.
- Human element: births, deaths, serious injuries1 , missing persons, piracy, armed robbery, security incidents, evacuation or abandonment.
- Any time evasive actions are required beyond normal manoeuvres to avoid a collision.
Further details may be found in the Information Bulletin below:
Source: BMA
