MSF: Near miss – potential dropped object found on bundle of casing
- Safety Flash
- Published on 11 February 2021
- Generated on 22 August 2025
- IMCA SF 05/21
- 2 minute read
The Marine Safety Forum published Safety Alert 20-11 relating to a potential dropped object in a load.
What happened?
The near miss incident occurred during offloading of casing from a supply vessel.
The rig crew spotted a hook resting on the bundle. The load was set down and the job stopped.
The hook was later identified as part of the vessel’s cargo securing equipment which had been found defective before use but had not placed in the quarantine area for damaged lifting and securing equipment.
The weight of the hook was 1.4 kg. The hook could have fallen 19 m on the rig and significantly higher (70m +) to the supply vessel deck.
What were the causes?
- Lack of sufficient pre-lift checks
- Failure to follow procedures
- Inadequate supervision and training
IMCA notes: Unfortunately there is nothing special or noteworthy about this event. The learning for us is that it happened at all. Continuous vigilance with regard to potential dropped objects, remains of the utmost importance.
A search of all the safety events and incidents available through the IMCA Safety Flashes web page reveals that there are many incidents like this one.
MCA provides for its Members the following safety promotional material on dropped objects:
- IMCA video HSS039 – Technip DROPS
- IMCA video HSS042 Saipem DROPS – choice not chance
- IMCA video HSS043 Subsea 7 DROPS
- IMCA pocket card SPB016 Avoiding dropped objects
- IMCA poster SPP004 Avoiding dropped objects
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