A member has reported a serious incident which occurred recently on an offshore vessel when a 7 ton SWL wire sling parted. From the diagram below, it can be seen that the operation was totally reliant on the use of co-ordinated radio communications, as both winch operators were unable to maintain a line of sight … Continue reading “Incident during winch-to-winch wire transfer operations”

A member reports that an able seaman slipped on an external stairway and fell heavily on his elbow, injuring himself. He had been washing down and had cleared away his bucket before heading down to the mess room. The stairway had a handrail on either side, but he used neither. The treads on the stair … Continue reading “Slip on stairs”

Incident Overview A member has reported the following diving fatality during a surface supplied diving operation being undertaken from a platform while two divers were working in close proximity to each other. Communication to the surface was maintained through an audio link with both divers and helmet mounted video systems, however this only allowed the … Continue reading “Diving fatality”

A member has reported the following severe accident during the inspection of a generator engine resulting in loss of life. The incident occurred in a large (12m x 3m) container, weighing 40,000kg and holding a Detroit Diesel V16 generating set, a compressor, welding sets and two electrode ovens. The container was normally used for providing … Continue reading “Fatality: Trapping in machinery”

A paper has recently been submitted to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) concerning vessels which despite carrying a Safety Management Certificate (SMC), had accidents on board in which the investigators found little evidence of established procedures for reporting non-conformities, accidents and hazardous situations in keeping with the procedures to be expected when an SMC is … Continue reading “Incidents submitted to IMO relating to vessels carrying SMCs”

One man was killed and nine others were injured at a construction site during the lift of a 300 tonne alternator. The lift, using hydraulic jacks and beams, was nearing completion when the equipment collapsed for unknown reasons. This report has been issued by a company involved as a precaution against similar incidents, following up … Continue reading “Fatality and serious injuries during heavy lift operation”

A member has forwarded the following from the NATO website: Anti-terrorism measures – issued by the NATO Shipping Centre on 5 March “At present there is no intelligence of an immediate terrorist threat. In a press release (AP 03 Mar) it is announced that NATO intends to extend the anti-terrorist maritime patrols, surveillance and monitoring … Continue reading “Security of shipping in the Mediterranean and Middle East”

A member has reported the following incident, noting that it is aware of similar incidents and wishes to bring details to the attention of the wider IMCA membership to assist in preventing future potential incidents of the same nature. During a recent subsea core drilling operation, a diver was injured on deck of the diving … Continue reading “Incident during core drilling operation”

A member has reported a serious incident where a plate was being supported on a small length of tubular, which was mounted vertically. The tube was sealed at the bottom, but open to the atmosphere at the top end. The plate was about to be cut using an oxy-acetylene cutting torch mounted on a jig. … Continue reading “Near-miss involving oxy-acetylene cutting of plate”

We have received a report of an incident where a man died when a refrigerated container fell from a mobile offshore drilling unit (MODU) to the sea. The MODU was a jack-up drilling rig, jacked up in drilling operational mode. The container had been previously lifted from a supply vessel and placed on an elevated … Continue reading “Fatality: Fall from rig of a container”