The Swedish P&I Club Monthly Safety Scenario for July 2014
The Swedish P&I Club published its Monthly Safety Scenario for July 2014 regardingthe danger of rotten pilot ladders onboard.The Swedish Club publishes on a monthly basis a new “Monthly Safety Scenario” (MSS) to assist owners in their efforts of complying with the maritime regulations.
It was an early summer morning with calm winds and no swell. The vessel had departed port and was preparing for the pilot to disembark. The Chief Officer had told the bosum to prepare the ladder on the starboard side. The vessel had discharged all its cargo and was in ballast condition proceeding to the next port for loading. As the vessel had no cargo onboard the freeboard was about five meters.When the bosun had secured the ladder hecalled the Chief Officer on the radio and toldhim all was ready for the pilot.
A couple of days before, the 2nd Officer had donethe monthly inspection of the safety equipmentand had reported that the pilot ladder was ingood, clean condition. The ladder had a four-yearold certificate of conformity that was still valid.
To make it easier for the pilot boat to approachthe vessel the Master made a small alteration togive the pilot lee from the wind. On the bridge thepilot put on his lifejacket and was escorted by theChief Officer to the main deck. When the vesselhad completed the alteration the pilot boatapproached the vessel and the pilot started to climb down the ladder.
After a couple of steps one of the side ropesbroke as it was rotten and the ladder swungheavily forward and aft. This caused the pilot tolose his grip and fall. He fell four meters, hit therailing on the pilot boat and fell into the water.At this time the vessel had a speed of about 2knots. The Chief Officer told the Master over theradio that the pilot had fallen into the water. TheMaster immediately stopped the propeller pitch.
A couple of minutes later the pilot boatmanaged to lift the pilot onboard. He wasconscious but had severe pain in his right arm.The pilot was taken to hospital where it wasfound that he had broken his arm.
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The Swedish Club recommends the following: It is important to understand that a certificate of conformity only confirms that theladder has been manufactured as per requirements. It is important that pilot ladders are not tampered with, that they are inspectedcorrectly, that tape is not used which can hide the condition of the ladder andtrap moisture. |
This Monthly Safety Scenario includes the following questions for incident investigation and further discussion on the accident:
1. What were the immediate causes of this accident?
2. Is there a chain of error?
3. Is there a risk that this kind of accident could happen on our vessel?
4. How could this accident have been prevented?
5. What sections of our SMS would have been breached, if any?
6. Is our SMS sufficient to prevent this kind of accident?
7. If procedures were breached why do you think this was the case?
8. When the pilot ladder is inspected, how is this completed? Is it just an ocular inspection or a more thorough inspection of all critical parts?
9. Are our pilot ladders stored in a dry and clean environment?
10. Do we have a risk assessment onboard that addresses these risks?
11. Do we correct an identified issue with any safety equipment or breach of safetyprocedures immediately?
12. What do you think is the root cause of this accident?
Source & Image Credit : The Swedish P&I Club /Monthly Safety Scenario
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Also read previous Monthly Safety Scenarios issued by The Swedish P&I Club: Grounding in restricted visibility Corroded pipe causing oil spill Cargo liquefaction in heavy weather Injury – men overboard during lifeboat drill Falling into cargo hold |
