Lessons learnt for mooring arrangements and operations
The Danish Maritime Accident Investigation Board (DMAIB) has issued a safety report on mooring accident on board container ship PACHUCA on 14 December 2012.
During that date, at 0415 local time, the container ship PACHUCA arrived in Esbjerg, Denmark, from Larvik, Norway for discharging and loading general cargo in containers. Loading was completed at 0615 and shortly after, the ship was ready for departure.
At 0620, the crew on deck started to single up to one forward spring line. There was a strong breeze from an easterly direction that made it difficult for the master to manoeuvre the ship from the berth. He therefore turned the rudder hard to port and set the thrusters to push to starboard. He then gave the main engine a short forward order by setting the pitch propeller to 40%.
The master’s intention was to open the ship with the forward spring and thereby obtain a distance to the berth. He would then be able to use the propulsion to move the ship into the middle of the harbour basin.
Within 10-15 seconds, the spring line was slacked until there was no mooring rope left on the winch drum. The clamp, where the mooring line was fastened, broke and the line struck the bosun. The master saw the mooring line part from the ship.
He tried to contact the bosun, but there was no reply. He realized that something was wrong and prepared to bring the ship alongside again. The AB reported from the forecastle that the bosun was seriously injured.
After half an hour, the bosun was evacuated from the ship via a ladder from a fire truck and brought to the hospital by an ambulance.
This accident occurred as a result of several factors that coincided during a normal work routine for crew members that were experienced in carrying out mooring operations.
Overall the crewmembers were challenged bythe basic design of the mooring arrangementi.e. lack of overview, small working area andexposure to ropes under tension. Within thatwork place environment, and the goal conflictsand changing operational circumstances, theaccident happened.
Further information may be found by reading DMAIB Safety Report on PACHUCA mooring accident
