05/05/2020
COVID-19: positive observation – The local mooring department of a contractor member has enforced strict physical distancing in external areas for toolbox talks (TBT) and other operational meetings. Circle markings on the ground to indicate how far apart individuals should stand.

05/05/2020
Positive observation: Following vehicle cleaning and disinfection protocol an additional initiative to protect drivers and passengers from COVID-19 during the pandemic is the installation of protective plexiglass shields in all company shared vehicles.

05/05/2020
Positive observation: One of our members has installed a disinfecting tunnel providing an additional control measure in the fight against the spread of COVID-19 and other diseases. The disinfectant system is equipped with a motion-activated sprayer that will trigger misting and disinfects of any person who walks through it.

04/28/2020
Vessel gangway rolled off platform tower and fell to the quayside in high wind. During stormy weather, there were sudden and violent gusts of wind of greater than 50 knots, resulting in a vessel alongside being pushed off the quay. This resulted in the gangway rolling off the platform tower.

04/28/2020
Near miss: dropped clump weight. A clump weight fell approximately 30m to deck and landed around a metre to where a rigger was working. The incident occurred just after the boom of the main crane was lowered towards the cradle for sea fastening prior to transit. It was dark, windy and raining.

04/28/2020
LTI: worker lost his thumb. During drilling operations, a worker got his thumb caught under a part of a drill being lowered into position, resulting in the amputation of the thumb just above the knuckle. The incident occurred during operations to retrieve core samples from the borehole.

04/28/2020
Fire in engine room and subsequent collision with structure on transport barge. During the tow of a structure to location, a fire occurred in the engine room of the tow tug. This led to a blackout resulting in a collision with the structure on the transport barge.

04/28/2020
Lifting operations: wire hoist rope failure. When conducting a standard lifting operation of a 24.5te storage vessel and lifting frame (approximately 36% of the crane 70te maximum rated capacity) the wire hoist rope (WHR) failed causing the load, main block and length of wire to drop approximately 3m to the wharf.

04/15/2020
UK HSE: worker fell into lift shaft – safety controls bypassed. The UK HSE prosecuted a company after a 34-year-old employee was moving a loaded lift trolley in the tool department of a hangar when he fell into the lift shaft to the bottom floor and suffered life-changing injuries.

04/15/2020
Vessel flooding incident. A vessel suffered flooding and loss of integrity, caused by sea water ingress into the engine room, due to a hole developing in the box cooler bulkhead.

04/15/2020
Grounding of ro-ro freight vessel Seatruck Performance. The UK MAIB (Marine Accident Investigation Branch) has released Accident Investigation Report 4/2020 into the grounding of a freight vessel.

04/15/2020
Recent UK MAIB investigations (shifting of cargo and loss of cargo). The UK MAIB (Marine Accident Investigation Branch) has released two reports recently relating to incidents involving the shifting of and loss of cargo.
1) Cargo shift and damage to vehicles on board ro-ro passenger ferry European Causeway. 2) Loss of cargo containers overboard from container ship CMA CGM G. Washington.

03/31/2020
Agitator started moving during mud tank cleaning – leading to injury. An agitator in a mud tank started up when an employee of a third-party contractor working in the tank was in the way. He was hit by the agitator paddle in his lower back and fell to the tank floor.

03/31/2020
Worker fell from height and suffered life changing injuries. A worker was paralysed from the waist down when he fell 3.4 metres to the bottom of a ships hold.

03/31/2020
Near miss: engine room hatch left open without barriers. During routine maintenance, it was reported that the engine room hatch was left open with no physical barriers around, creating the potential for serious injury if distracted persons were to fall down the hatches.

03/31/2020
Potential for diver injury operating a hand-held torque wrench. A diver was involved in a near miss that could have resulted in serious injury when he was asked to function an ROV valve override on a subsea isolation valve with a hand-held torque wrench.

03/31/2020
Chain hoist failure resulting in a serious near miss. During maintenance of a vessel’s main engine there was a requirement to remove the charge air cooler weighing 400kg.

03/17/2020
COVID-19 update. For the latest information and advice on the COVID-19 outbreak, including an overview of countries with confirmed cases and current assessments of risk, please browse to the World Health Organisation’s Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak webpage.

03/17/2020
Damage and engine room flooding following contact by tugboat. A vessel suffered damage to the hull and engine room flooding due to contact with a tugboat during berthing.

03/17/2020
Trencher angle inadvertently altered. During offshore trenching operations, the ROV pilot unknowingly made contact with the control joystick, inadvertently raising the cutting wheel and thereby decreasing the cutting depth.

03/17/2020
Marine Safety Forum: two incidents relating to fast rescue craft. The Marine Safety Forum (MSF) has published two recent Safety Alerts relating to Fast Rescue Craft (FRCs).

03/17/2020
Lifting operation resulting in dropped objects from flexible intermediate bulk container. Multiple metal objects were dropped during a lifting operation using a flexible intermediate bulk container (FIBC). It was being used to lift garbage from a below deck stores area.

03/17/2020
Dropped load and failed chain. A chain link failed causing a load of over 260kg to fall 1.5m to deck.

03/06/2020
Near miss: failure of work procedures during hot work at height. During a crew change handover walk around the vessel hull, the Master observed a welder working close to the open/unsecured edge of a PS davit area.

03/06/2020
High potential LTI: rigger ear injury. A crewman suffered a serious ear injury whilst removing some temporary rigging suspended from a crane gantry walkway.

03/06/2020
LTI: finger injury caused while working with oil drums. A crewmember suffered a fracture to the right-hand ring finger whilst arranging 200l oil drums.

03/03/2020
Potential for diver injury operating a hand-held torque wrench. A diver was involved in a near miss that could have resulted in serious injury when he was asked to function an ROV valve override on a subsea isolation valve with a hand-held torque wrench.

03/03/2020
Statement on COVID-19 from UAE ministry of foreign affairs and international cooperation. The United Arab Emirates Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation issued a statement.

03/03/2020
Impact of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak on Singapore-registered ships. The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) have issued Shipping Circular No. 3 of 2020 relating to the impact of COVID-19 on Singapore-registered ships.

03/03/2020
Joint statement IMO-WHO on the response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The Director-General of WHO (the World Health Organisation) and the Secretary-General of IMO (the International Maritime Organization) have jointly issued the attached statement.

02/26/2020
High potential near miss: dropped object from turbine tower. At a wind turbine tower, chains weighing 17kg fell 84m. The incident occurred during the pulling through of a 66kv HV cable during installation.

02/26/2020
High potential dropped object – chains. A set of heavy chain links, or ‘Brothers’ used in lifting, fell from a turbine tower onto the front deck of a Crew Transfer Vehicle (CTV) below.

02/26/2020
High potential dropped objects from wind turbine Nacelle crane. Two lifting bags detached and fell from the crane hook on a wind turbine tower. The incident occurred during lowering operations at the end of an annual service day in the wind turbine nacelle.

02/19/2020
Plastic cover on smoke detector. During an inspection of vessel accommodation by shore management, it was observed that a plastic cover was obstructing a smoke detector.

02/19/2020
UK HSE: fatal injury following catastrophic failure of pressure test equipment. A 64-year-old worker was fatally wounded by shrapnel ejected from testing equipment. He was leak testing eight 1500 litre cylinders, by applying compressed air inside to create pressure.

02/19/2020
Two electrical incidents – UK HSE. Here are two recent prosecutions brought by the UK Health and Safety Executive, both relating to inappropriate working arrangements with live power.

02/19/2020
Short circuit on 440v AC bus bars – arc flash. A crewman was doing electrical work on a 440v power distribution panel (PDP), when a loose earth bonding cable made contact with a live 440v bus bar causing a short circuit and an arc flash.

02/19/2020
Electric shock resulting in burn. An ROV technician received an electric shock to his left arm beneath the elbow, resulting in a burn.

02/13/2020
Basket snagged on ship’s structure. The Marine Safety Forum (MSF) has published Safety Alert 19-14 relating to an incident whereby a basket snagged on the ships structure causing damage to the vessel and basket.

02/13/2020
Unsafe lifting operations – potential dropped object. The Marine Safety Forum (MSF) has published Safety Alert 19-15 relating to a potential dropped object during unsafe lifting operations.