Mooring operations are challenging and sometimes lead to fatal accidents onboard; Therefore, Gard alerts that the first line ashore has the highest potential to snap given the level of load it can experience to steady a moving vessel.
Mooring and unmooring operations hide a number of risks for those who get involved, many times leading to a fatal accident or a collision; Thus, it is of a great importance when conducting any mooring operation to follow specific steps to ensure the safety of all those conducting the operation.
The Swedish Club issued its December’s monthly scenario focusing on a serious injury when during mooring operations the AB threw the heaving line to the line handler, with the monkey fist heavily hitting him on the head; The Club stresses that the mooring operations should always be in line with the instructions from their flag state, port state and ideally what is stated in the COSWP.
Mr. Konstantinos Koronakis, CEO, D.KORONAKIS SA makes a brief assessment of MEG-4, pinpointing areas of improvement after one year of implementation. As a line manufacturer, he provides insight into key issues concerning mooring, highlighting that mooring operations are certainly challenging but also safe when all precautions are taken.
A large LNG carrier was docked in an LNG terminal in UK. The 345.30m LOA carrier was moored with a total number of 20 lines (high modulus polyethylene ropes) following the ‘3-2-3-2 fore and aft’ rule. The vessel had 22 lines on board (as per manufacturer’s requirements) to be used during mooring operations of 44mm diameter Steelite Superline Xtra high modulus polyethylene (HMPE) with a specified minimum breaking load (MBL) of 137t.
In July 2018, OCIMF issued the fourth edition of its Mooring Equipment Guidelines (MEG4) to update related guidelines and include new chapters on Human Factors in Mooring Design, Jetty Design and Fittings, Ship Shore Interface and Alternative Technologies.
Mooring is a key operation onboard, hindering many challenges for crew members involved. In particular, many accidents involving mooring equipment have reported in the last years, resulting to injuries and expensive claims.
A dragging anchor is one of the many unwelcome incidents a ship may encounter during its operational life at sea. Sometimes the anchor may drag, something that may not be in control of the crew. So, what rests for the crew to do is to recognize the signs of a dragging anchor: Early identification is the key to avoid accident-related to the dragging anchor situations.
Speaking at SAFETY4SEA Forum in Athens, David Nichol, Senior Loss Prevention Executive, UK P&I Club focused on safe mooring, providing a brief overview of the challenges facing seafarers as well as common failures arising from mooring accident investigations.
Port of Helsinki ordered an additional automated mooring system, in line with the port’s efforts to optimize safety and efficiency and also reduce environmental impact, following similar orders from the Port of Turku and Port of Tallinn in recent months.
