As UK MAIB reports in its most recent Safety Digest, a pilot was embarking a moored bunker tanker via its pilot ladder in calm conditions.
The incident
Once alongside the tanker, the pilot tested the ladder and then stepped onto it. As the pilot began to climb, the ladder suddenly dropped by over a
metre and the pilot fell from it into the water.
Seeing the pilot fall, the pilot vessel’s coxswain instinctively manoeuvred the vessel clear to avoid crushing the pilot between the two vessels. In the
water, the pilot’s auto-inflate lifejacket kept them afloat until they were safely recovered uninjured by the crew of the pilot vessel.
Lessons learned
- Check → A responsible officer must check that the pilot ladder is correctly rigged and ready for use before the pilot boards. In this case a rung of the pilot ladder had become caught on a deck fitting and when the pilot put their weight on the ladder it unexpectedly dropped, causing them to lose their handhold and fall into the water.
- Equipment → A post-accident inspection of the tanker’s pilot boarding arrangements found that the tanker’s guard rail handholds were more than 80cm apart and its boarding arrangements were therefore assessed as noncompliant with SOLAS1 regulations.
- Prepare → Practice makes perfect. As soon as the coxswain of the pilot vessel saw the pilot fall, they manoeuvred the vessel clear of the tanker to allow the pilot to enter the water uninjured. Thereafter, the crew’s well-drilled procedures ensured the pilot’s safe recovery.
