Deaths and injuries during mooring must be
curbed
Serious accidents in mooring operations involving
death or serious injury appear to be increasing over the long term, according
to the UK P&I Club. As the largest mutual insurer of entered merchant
tonnage, the Club finds it has spent over $34 million settling related
insurance claims over the past 20 years.
The numbers rarely exceeded four per cent of all
claims on the Club and two per cent of settlements in 1987-97. During the next
decade, however, the number peaked at 14 per cent in 2000 and the value at 15
per cent two years later. In 2007, both numbers and values dropped to 1997
levels. However, the Club regards this as "encouraging but not necessarily
indicative of a long-term trend."
Mooring injuries have been only the seventh most
frequent cause of personal injuries dealt with by the Club but the third most
expensive per claim, indicating that these injuries are often more severe.
Some 14 per cent of all accidents involved deaths.
Some 23 per cent were leg injuries, 14 per cent back, 11 per cent multiple and
seven per cent arm and head. Knees, shoulders, hands, chests and faces each the
subject of about three per cent with pelvis, eye, foot, thigh, ankle and wrist
injuries completing the total.
Most accidents occurred during the handling of ropes
or wires----whether parting (53%) or not (42%). Just five per cent emanated
from equipment failure. Tug operations were involved in 13 per cent of claims
where ropes and wires parted while weather, equipment problems, other vessels'
wash and ship to ship activity contributed to nearly 30 per cent. Where ropes
or wires slipped or jumped off equipment, seafarers were sometimes caught up or
struck by them.
The UK Club feels its own claims figures point to
similar experience across the shipping industry.
Mooring operations are dangerous to crew on board
because of the great loads mooring lines carry and the possibility of their
breaking under tension, according to the Club's newly published advisory
newsletter Understanding Mooring Incidents. As hazards are inseparable
from operations, a risk assessment should be made of all mooring areas on
board.
Hazard areas include bulkhead frames, mooring bitts,
pedestal fairleads, cleats and structures such as the windlass and hawse pipe
cover platforms. All relevant deck areas should be kept clean, clear, painted
and marked----especially the 'snap back' zones where broken ropes and wires can
recoil with devastating effect.
Highlighting hazards, therefore, should help new
crew, cadets, trainees, visitors and even experienced crew who can become
complacent, tired or too busy to notice a hazardous situation developing.
Operations should always be undertaken with enough
crew to do the job safely. That means at least two people for each mooring
station. Even with automatic mooring systems, a second person should be ready
for things going wrong. All operatives should have a clear view of relevant
equipment and active operations.
Only personnel involved in mooring operations should
be present at stations during operations. Inexperienced people, such as cadets,
should be supervised by experienced seafarers.
Deck officers must watch out for hazards and take
action to avoid possible incidents but crew must take responsibility for
themselves. A significant number of personal injury incidents still result from
standing within a bight or coil of rope. Even experienced seafarers do not
always pay enough heed to the snap-back zone when a mooring line is under
tension.
Personal protective equipment----hard hats, safety
footwear and boiler suits or other protective full-length clothing----should be
worn during mooring operations. So should gloves but loose gloves might become
trapped under a line on a windlass drum, hauling a crew member over it.
Crew should not operate a windlass or capstan and
handle ropes at the same time. Fixing a lanyard to an operating lever and
pulling on it from the rope-handling position should not be allowed. If only
two crew members carry out mooring operations, they should work together on the
lines at one end of the vessel and then move to the other. The crew member at
the windlass drum must keep his hands clear of the turns and avoid becoming
fouled in coils of rope.
Windlass, capstan, pedestal fairleads, bitts, welding
and ropes and wires should be inspected regularly to ensure they are fully and
safely functioning. Ropes should be properly stored away from wet decks,
precipitation and direct sunlight.
Poor mooring arrangements can be responsible for
claims for damage to cargo handling equipment, docks and other structures. A
vessel may surge or break her lines because of strong currents or the effect of
passing vessels' wash.
A ship overhanging her berth may be unable to lead any
stern lines aft of the ship. The master should consider using the anchor and
mooring lines running aft from the main deck or other areas. Tidal and weather
patterns can help to predict how the vessel will be affected. Cargo operations
should be stopped or not commenced if conditions do not appear safe. If there
are insufficient mooring arrangements ashore, the vessel may be forced to pay
out an extremely long lead on the stern lines. The master should protest to the
port authority.
Understanding Mooring Incidents provides a
wide range of advice on maintenance, including greasing, creating an eye in the
end of a wire or using bulldog clips; windlass and rope care; and the use of
rope and wire stoppers.
*The full version can be downloaded from the UK
Club's website www.ukpandi.com
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