Blindspot caused ship accident

A ‘‘relatively inexperienced’’ crew member aboard a container ship moored in PrimePort Timaru was unsighted by a winch operator and suffered serious hand and facial injuries after stepping too close to the machinery, an investigation has found.

The Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) released its report yesterday into the November 14, 2020, incident which resulted in the crew member being admitted to Timaru Hospital and later transferred to Christchurch Hospital.

The report says the ship was being prepared for departure when the crew member who had been on the ship since August and working as an ‘‘ordinary seaman’’ for the first time, ‘‘stepped too close to the mooring winch and became trapped between the rope and the winch drum’’.

A team of three were unmooring, with the supervisor operating the winch because the unmooring team was down a crew member. The report said it was very unlikely the supervisor would’ve been able to safely carry out the role of supervisor and winch operator at the same time.

‘‘The person in charge of the forward mooring party was also operating the winch. This very likely increased the risk of the accident because they no longer had a clear view of the entire operation and their ability to monitor the actions of others was reduced.

‘‘The crew had not identified the need to change the unmooring plan to address new risks created by a reduction in crewing available on the forward mooring deck.’’

The report states that before the injury, the crew member was ‘‘in the blindspot of the winch operator.’’

‘‘It is important that the person in a supervisory role remains an observer and does not take part in the actual work or handling operation.

‘‘Their primary role was to monitor the entire unmooring operation, supervise their team members and identify any problems before they became serious.’’

The report says there was ‘‘no direct line of sight’’ between the winch operator and the two rope handlers.

‘‘The forward mooring team therefore relied on verbal and/or hand signals to communicate.’’

‘‘Communication between the members of the forward mooring team was challenging because of equipment blocking the line of sight and noise levels due to the bow thrusters.’’

The report said the crew member was making a hand signal to the operator while bent down and adjusting the rope.

‘‘It is likely that the crew member, completely focused on communicating and handling the rope, had reduced situational awareness of their own safety.

‘‘As a result, they stepped too close to the mooring winch and became trapped between the rope and the winch drum.’’

TAIC also identified unsafe use of the equipment contributed to the accident.

‘‘The Rio De La Plata was using a mooring rope that was outside the manufacturer’s design length. The length of the rope was 20 metres longer than the maximum design length (of 200 metres), but more importantly, the rope was not stowed correctly on the drum.

‘‘At the time of the accident OS2 was adjusting the rope on the storage drum to prevent it getting jammed.’’

TAIC says it is important recommendations are implemented without delay to help prevent similar accidents in future.