Dropped object near-miss: ROV wire rope
- Safety Flash
- Published on 2 October 2015
- Generated on 14 November 2025
- IMCA SF 14/15
- 1 minute read
Crew were aligning an ROV to the guide wires on the starboard aft ROV deck of a vessel.
What happened?
While doing this the ROV dome contacted the forward guide wire and it broke free from its termination point on the overhead gantry. This allowed approximately 36m of “2 inch” 6×19 wire rope, weighing 430kg, to fall to the pontoon level and into the water below. The closest worker was approximately 6m away on the ROV deck level and was approximately 9m beneath the gantry tending a tag line while the ROV was being positioned during the incident. The potential severity of this near miss was a fatality.
What went wrong?
- An investigation found that the lack of formalised procedures, reliance on second hand knowledge and the lack of verification on preventative maintenance schemes resulted in the deterioration of equipment, leading to failure.
The corrective actions and recommendations were:
- Use certified guideline wires
- Install secondary retention on all cursor guideline wires
- Create specific maintenance procedures for the use and care of cursor guidelines.
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