Lessons Learned: Safety instructions to be clearly understood by all passengers before embarkation

In its latest Safety Digest, UK MAIB focuses on an incident on a commercially operated RIB taking passengers on a 2-hour sightseeing trip. When the skipper was performing a series of ‘S’ turns to familiarize the passengers with the motion of the RIB, one of them lost balance and fell overboard and into the water.

Narrative

A commercially operated RIB, taking passengers on a 2-hour sightseeing trip. Conditions were good, with no wind and the waters were flat and calm. What is more, all passengers were given a standard safety briefing prior embarkation and were all wearing personal flotation devices.

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Once underway, the skipper informed the passengers that he was going to perform a series of ‘S’ turns to familiarize them with the motion of the RIB. As the RIB turned sharply to starboard, one of the passengers at the rear of the boat lost balance and fell overboard and into the water.

The passenger was quickly recovered, and the RIB immediately returned to the jetty. After changing clothes, the passenger re-boarded the RIB and the sightseeing trip resumed.

UK MAIB informs that the RIB seating was configured with four rows of twin seats on the centerline running aft from the skipper’s console, and a row of four seats athwartships at the aft end of the boat. The centerline seats had handholds for the occupants on the rear of the seats in front of them, but the aft seats had only a single handhold for each outboard passenger on the RIB’s tubes.

Namely, the one passenger who fell overboard was sitting in the outboard starboard aft seat and at the time of the incident he was not holding on and was rather looking through the viewfinder of a camera. It was also made apparent that he had not heard the briefing relating to the ‘S’ turns over the noise of the engine.

Lessons Learned

1. Although the skipper considered the maneuver to be neither too fast nor too steep, the movement of the boat was enough to unbalance an unprepared passenger. And while a warning was issued prior to the maneuver, this was inaudible to the passengers at the rear of the boat. UK MAIB advises that when safety instructions are delivered, they must be clearly understood by all passengers and in the event that noise is an issue other forms of communication such as hand signals should be considered and agreed prior the departure.
2. Operators offering adventurous rides should review their operational risk assessments to confirm that seating arrangements are adequate to ensure the safety of their customers throughout the ride. UK MAIB informs that the Passenger Boat Association and Royal Yachting Association, with input from several other organizations, such as the MCA and British Marine, have produced a safety guidance code aimed at small passenger craft high speed experience rides, focusing on promoting passenger safety. In respect of structural considerations, “all seats should have hand-holds located in front of the passenger allowing them to hold on with both hands, these should be roughly at chest height and shoulder width apart.”