Mars Reports 2015
The Nautical Institute has issued a Mars Report as follows:
Crew were performing maintenance work at a protected anchorage. The bosun and the chief officer discussed painting a portion of the port engine room vent that had recently been repaired. In the early afternoon, the bosun took the initiative to begin this job alone. He entered the steel basket attached to the port provision crane, attached his safety belt to the cranes hook, then used the remote control to operate the crane and manoeuvre the basket to the engine room vent. After working for some time, the bosun again used the remote control to manoeuvre the basket down in order to take a break. A nearby officer heard the sound of liquid spilling; it was paint coming from the basket that the bosun was manoeuvring towards the deck. As the officer walked towards the spot where the paint had spilled a snap was heard. He looked up and then stepped back at the same moment the basket containing the bosun came crashing down approximately five metres, landing directly in front of the officer. Immediately following the accident, the crew members removed the bosun from the basket and administered first aid but he was later declared deceased.
Some of the findings of the official report, as edited, were:
- Although the crane was not suitable for lifting personnel, it was nonetheless being used to work aloft.
- Although bench tests showed the limit switch to be operating normally, it did not cut power when the crane block exceeded the set limit. Most probably the lifting rod and wire were not properly rigged; the cable not fitted through the hole in the lifting rods end plate. In this situation, the unsecured lifting rod would have been pushed aside by the crane block, rather than up, and the limit switch would not have been activated.
- The bosuns view of the crane block was obstructed from the position inside the basket, limiting the bosuns ability to identify that the block had exceeded its set limit.
- The crane block made contact with the underside of the boom and the winch continued to pull, causing the hoisting cable to part and the basket to fall approximately five metres.
Lessons learned |
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Source: Nautical Institute
The Mariners’ Alerting and Reporting Scheme (MARS) is primarily a confidential reporting system run by The Nautical Institute to allow full reporting of accidents (and near misses) without fear of identification or litigation. As a free service to the industry, MARS reports also regularly comprise alerts condensed from official industry sources, so that issues resulting from recent incidents can be efficiently relayed to the mariner on board. With access to the internet from vessels becoming more affordable, the MARS database is a valuable risk assessment, work planning, loss prevention tool and training aid for crew and management. MARS reports are held in a publicly-accessible database and can be accessed by clicking on the link below: Contact the Editor of MARS at[email protected] |
Above Mars Report is edited from Canadian Transport Safety Bureau report M13L0055