Safety Alert: Near Miss – Cruise Gangway
What Happened:
A cruise vessel was preparing to depart the Port of Cromarty Firth (PoCF). The gangway had been rigged to a landside crane in preparation for removal.
The ship advised that a number of passengers were believed to still be ashore. Whilst the ship searched for the passengers, it was decided to reduce full mooring arrangements to 2+2 fore and aft.
The passengers were subsequently located onboard, and the Master instructed to further reduce the lines to 1+1 fore and aft.
The ship’s mooring station slackened the lines due to high tensions and the ship suddenly drifted off the berth, dragging the gangway which was connected to the crane across the quayside.
The crane operator could not slew or reach any further to compensate for the movement of the vessel so took the decision to lift the gangway clear. As a result, the gangway swung back towards the quayside, where it was brought under control and safely landed.
Whilst these actions were underway, the PoCF Operations Supervisor used VHF to advise the Pilot that the gangway was still connected, and the PoCF Pilot subsequently instructed the Master to thrust the ship back alongside.
Key Findings:
• The swift action of the crane operator to lift the gangway from the vessel averted a very serious incident.
• The notification from Master to Pilot in relation to potential missing passengers altered the pre-planned sequence of events for the vessel departure. This led to the incident occurring, as the gangway had been rigged for removal but was then not immediately lifted.
• The full mooring arrangements should have remained in place until the gangway was removed.
Positives:
• The crane operator recognised that lifting the gangway off the vessel presented a risk to personnel on the quayside, however, given the circumstances, demonstrated confident contingency action to prevent a much more serious incident. PoCF support the operator’s decision and actions.
• Shore to ship communications were very effective in preventing the situation developing further.
Actions by PoCF:
PoCF have reviewed their safe system of work and risk assessment relating to cruise vessel departure to cover communications and the risk of passengers who are delayed returning to the vessel.
In future there will be no change to mooring arrangements whilst the gangway is fast.
Considerations for Members – Members may wish to:
• Review safe systems of work to ensure that:
o The procedure for vessel departure is adequately described.
o The protocol for communications with vessel Master and bridge team are clear.
• Ensure risk assessments cover the reasonable risk that vessel passengers may be delayed.
• Promote a culture where employees are supported to ‘take five’ when unexpected circumstances occur, allowing time for those involved to ensure the operation can continue safely
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ICHCA International is committed to helping industry to learn lessons fast, learn them once and make sure that they stay learnt. This information is intended to provide all organisations in the cargo supply chain with the opportunity to consider the events and to review and adapt their own health and safety control measures to proactively prevent future incidents.
We are grateful to Port Skills & Safety and the Port of Cromarty Firth for providing details and for raising awareness. We acknowledge their commitment to sharing learning to benefit others. If you have similar operations, please share this information with managers, operatives and any potentially affected third parties as appropriate. Please also review any of your relevant operations for similar hazardous conditions, risks, and controls. Learning content like this is highly valuable as it is based on real-world experience. We encourage everyone with publishable information about incidents to send it to us, so that we can raise awareness across the whole industry. Please contact us at secretariat@ichca.com; sharing your insight could save a life or prevent injury.