Safety Alerts
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 all those who provide these alerts and acknowledge their commitment to sharing learning to benefit others.
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.
Safety Alert: MAIB report on fatal crush on RoRo cargo vessel
The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has published a report into the fatal crush accident during cargo operations on board a roll-on/roll-off cargo vessel. Summary. 20 July 2021, the bosun of a roll-on/roll-off cargo vessel was fatally crushed while working on the vessel’s vehicle deck. The vessel was alongside loading semi-trailers. A tractor unit pushed a semi-trailer into a corner space, marshalled by the bosun in their assigned role as banksman. The accident was not seen by the driver, who disconnected the tractor unit and drove away. Shortly afterwards, two crew members found the bosun trapped between the rear of the semi-trailer and the vessel’s structure. Safety Issues • The banksman was fatally crushed while standing in an [...]
Safety Alert: Portable appliance electrical safety
What happened: A high potential incident occurred at a member’s premises when the plug of a portable heater caught fire. This incident highlights the dangers of untested or unsafe portable equipment being used on site. Key findings: • It was found that employees used portable heaters to bring individual rooms up to temperature. • As portable equipment is moved around, it can often be missed on portable appliance testing regimes. • Full pre-use checks of portable appliances are rarely carried out by users. Considerations for members: Members may wish to consider the following actions: • Review the risks associated with the use of portable electric heaters and decide whether their use is appropriate across all areas of your site. [...]
Safety Alert: Unplanned lift descent
What happened: On 21 September 2024, a near miss was reported due to an unplanned descent of a lift on a gantry crane. Following external engineers using the lift, internal engineers called the lift to the fourth level. Once it had reached the platform and the external gate had opened, the lift slowly descended away from the gate leaving an open edge. The internal engineers then isolated the lift. The external engineers had accidentally knocked the latch securing the emergency ladder inside the lift car. The shuddering of the lift ascending had caused the ladder to be released completely from the latch (image 1), falling forwards and making contact with the emergency brake release (image 2) which is [...]
Safety Alert: Mobile harbour crane cracks
What happened: During routine inspections, cracks were discovered in the diagonals on the booms of two mobile harbour cranes. Key findings: • Investigations concluded that the cause of the cracking was fatigue failure bought on by vortex induced vibration. Considerations for members: • Those members with mobile harbour cranes may wish to consider the following actions: • Regular inspections of all areas of the mobile harbour crane. • Increased planned maintenance schedule to ensure that the structure is sound. • Review of operation and storage procedures to ensure that the mobile harbour cranes are being utilised as intended. The above actions should all be carried out in consultation with the equipment manufacturer and relevant operating manual. TO DOWNLOAD [...]
Safety Alert: Mooring operative struck by mooring line
What happened: During mooring operations of a cruise vessel, the pilot advised that the vessel would begin to tension one of the lines, and for mooring teams to stand clear. A change in wind pushed the vessel off berth, causing the mooring line to take up all available slack. The mooring line became fouled on fixed equipment on the quayside and the tension increased further, resulting in the line pulling clear from behind the equipment and springing back several feet. The energised line struck a mooring operative, catapulting them forwards and downward onto the quayside, causing them to sustain very serious injuries to both their upper limbs. Key findings: • The mooring contractor is approved and deemed competent, [...]
Safety Alert: fatality of a crew member and the collapse of two other crew due to heat exhaustion
On 27 July 2023, a bulk carrier was berthing at the port of Mesaieed, Qatar. Whilst the first mooring lines were being passed ashore, the bosun and two other crew members of the forward mooring station collapsed, one after another. They were brought to the accommodation, where they were tended to by other crew members. After the vessel was moored, the chief officer reported that he, too, was feeling unwell. All four crew members were transferred to a local hospital. The bosun was declared deceased by paramedics, and this was confirmed at the hospital. All four crew members were diagnosed to have suffered from heat exhaustion with the bosun suffering from a heat stroke that led to his [...]
Safety Alert: Health hazard to a dock worker due to electric shock when connecting a refrigerated container on board a container ship
A dock worker connecting a deck stowed refrigerated container to the ship’s power supply received an electric shock when inserting the plug. Thankfully he was able to leave the scene under his own power and report what had happened. Why it happened • the switch box housing rubber seal was damaged and insufficiently prevented moisture ingress, leading to a so-called creepage distance formation in the housing, which could trigger a fault current • the earthing connection was severely impaired due to corrosion and/or loose contact • the fault current caused by the creepage distance was therefore not (exclusively) discharged directly via the PE conductor in the direction of the ship's hull. Instead, it flowed partially through the body [...]
Safety Alert: Slow speed gantry crane derailment
What happened: A rail mounted gantry crane, servicing visiting hauliers, had begun trolleying when the driver heard a loud noise from below and the crane came to a sudden stop. The driver contacted the engineering team for support who attended the scene and found that two of the leading crane wheels had become derailed from the rail. The crane driver was advised to safely shut down the crane and exit the cab. Although there were no injuries sustained, this incident had the potential to be much more serious. Key findings: • The flange of one of the leading crane wheels had cracked and fragmented, allowing the crane to deviate from the crane rail. • A torque imbalance [...]
Safety Alert: Cargo Stability
What happened: During the discharge of paper reels from a cargo hold, stevedores discovered that some reels in the stow had been chocked up with polystyrene packing. During the discharge a reel which was chocked in this way toppled. The reel was 1.4m in diameter, 2.2m high and weighed 2.6 tonnes. Fortunately, no one was injured in the incident. Key findings: • The polystyrene chocking is likely to have been used to raise the height of the reel in the layer, in order to allow another layer of reels to be stacked on top. • Polystyrene is not a suitable material to be used as weight bearing dunnage. • Good awareness from the stevedores involved in the [...]
Safety Alert: Shipboard firefighting by shore based firefighters
On 5 July 2023, a fire caught hold on board the vehicle carrier Grande Costa D’Avorio whilst it was being loaded with cars and other vehicles at a US port. The fire was officially extinguished on 11 July 2023. Tragically, two shore based firefighters lost their lives whilst courageously trying to fight the fire. The firefighters may have had difficulty in finding their way around the vessel decks in the hazardous and extremely challenging conditions that they encountered. The US Coast guard investigation “…indicated that the local fire department responding to the incident had little to no maritime firefighting training, experience, or familiarization with cargo ships of any type.” The US Coast Guard subsequently issued Marine Safety Alert [...]
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 [...]
Safety Alert: Hooking on whilst working at height
A cargo vessel alongside in port had completed discharging animal feed. The cargo hold was empty and the hatches open. It was dark and raining. The vessel’s crew were instructed on the risk assessments for working in the hold and signed the working at height form. They entered and installed a single spotlight at the aft end of the hold and began moving the hold’s internal dividing bulkheads. Several hours later, the ship’s cook/AB was working at the forward hold bulkhead wearing a safety harness with a lanyard and safety hook. The AB used recessed footholds in the side of the cargo hold to climb about 2.5m to access one of the bulkhead locking bolts and attached the [...]
Safety Alert: Empty Container Dislodgement
What happened: In January 2024, Storm Isha brought severe gale force winds of over 120km/h to the Dublin area. The winds blew an empty 45ft container stacked near the perimeter fence from its position and it toppled down the tiers of the stack and landing partially on the fence. Following this, a second 45ft container toppled down the stack, over the first container and coming to rest on a public roadway outside the Terminal (image 1 and 2). A further stack of containers toppled within the Terminal – two of these cleared the internal fence and came to rest on the Terminal Exit. No one was injured in the incident – damage was sustained to the terminal perimeter [...]
Safety Alert: Falling Extractor Flue – Near Miss
This incident relates to a flue pipe detaching from its position and falling onto a pedestrian area. Fewer than the correct number of supports had been fitted. In addition, users/owners of steel-clad portal buildings are advised to consider the strength and integrity of the steel sheeting and fastenings. Portal building manufacturers recommend unsupported 'tek' screws are used only to join sheets and flashing. When fixing additions to the building, the structural needs of the support also require assessment and the loadings need to pass through the external cladding to the structure. FOR THE FULL REPORT, CLICK HERE ICHCA International is committed to helping industry to learn lessons fast, learn them once and make sure that they stay learnt. [...]
Safety Alert: Working safely with visiting drivers
Two external HGV drivers attending a steel and metals terminal positioned their flatbed vehicles for loading of 10m x 2.5m x 20mm steel plate. Two terminal employees (a forklift truck driver and signaller/banksman) began the loading operation. The plates had been loaded on the first flatbed. A final lift was made to allow adjustment of a timber bearer which had fallen on its side. One HGV driver adjusted the bearer by hand whilst the load was suspended by the forklift. His finger became trapped and was injured. Lessons No vehicle should be (un)loaded by forklift unless all persons are in a position of safety. HGV drivers should be aware of and go to a safe position during [...]
Safety Alert: Wear can reduce the safe working life of wire ropes
On July 23, 2022, the cargo ship Thorco Basilisk was offloading a wind turbine component at a terminal when the hoisting wire rope on one of the ship’s cargo cranes failed, causing the component to drop onto the vessel’s cargo hold tween deck. Thankfully, no injuries were reported. Damages to the ship and cargo were estimated between $3-5 million. Examination showed significant external corrosion and wear on the rope. However, the visible signs of external corrosion could not be fully seen until the grease on the rope was removed. Annual surveys had been performed on the wire ropes, but these principally involved visual inspections and did not identify the underlying corrosion below the grease. The rope was still [...]
Safety Alert: Inappropriate use of lift trucks as work at height platform
Two examples are included in this report of fall from height injuries that occurred on separate vessels In each case personnel were being lifted by forklift truck - in a metal ‘basket’ and ‘wooden box’ respectively - to undertake work at height. Neither arrangement was suitable or fit for purpose. “Personnel other than the driver should not be carried on a truck unless it is constructed or adapted for the purpose. Riding on the forks of a fork-lift truck is particularly dangerous.” - MCA (2015). Code of Safe Practices for Merchant Seafarers. (Amendment 6, October 2021) In the principal incident, a risk assessment had been undertaken for the work equipment, a high-pressure washer. Use of a [...]
Safety Alert: Red Zone Hazards (e.g. pinch points) during lifting operations
USA Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) describes “Red zone” hazards as ones that “…occur when a worker is in the direct path of an object if a release of energy from that object would cause the worker to be hit, struck, pinched, impaled, crushed, or caught between objects.” Red Zone injuries range from minor incidents, such as a pinched finger, to fatalities. USA Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) describes “Red zone” hazards as ones that “…occur when a worker is in the direct path of an object if a release of energy from that object would cause the worker to be hit, struck, pinched, impaled, crushed, or caught between objects.” Red Zone injuries range [...]
Safety Alert: Work at Height £100,000 fine after worker at height stood on pallet raised by forklift
A recent UK prosecution spotlights the vital importance of safely planning and supervising work at height. A recent UK prosecution spotlights the vital importance of safely planning and supervising work at height. Our industry has an agile, problem-solving attitude baked into it but that always needs to be built on a foundation of clear assessment and understanding of risk. In this case a team of 3 workers were removing work equipment from the deck of a boat in a harbour’s slipway. Previously erected scaffolding had been removed. The workers raised a pallet to the deck with a forklift truck and used it as a mobile platform to remove items from the boat. A worker was then witnessed climbing [...]
Safety Alert: RoRo operations serious injury to signaller
A vessel was loading semi-trailers on Deck 3. The first semi-trailer came up the ramp from Deck 2, made a 180° turn on Deck 3, and lined up into the first lane to starboard, in reverse. A signaller was standing near the back of the semi-trailer. Another crew member was stationed on the side of the semi-trailer, ready to start securing, once it was in place. The signaller gave a long signal on a whistle, the signal to the driver to stop. But the semi-trailer kept reversing. Consequently, the signaller was caught between the sem-trailer’s side and one of the vessel’s transverse frames. The signaller suffered a crushing polytrauma with several fractures to face, spine and both sides of [...]
Safety Alert: Fatal accident during lifting operations
In 2022 a RoRo vessel was in port for loading and unloading operations. Local stevedores and crew members were moving steel support beams that were part of the ship’s gear. During this work, a stevedore foreman was hit by sliding support beams and knocked over an edge to a lower deck. The beams fell on top of him. The large shore crane normally used for the operation had been broken for several months and could not be used. A smaller shore crane was used, but this meant that the crane operator had limited lines of sight and could not see the guide cells on the deck into which containers were to be loaded. To improve crane operator lines of [...]
Safety Alert: Suspended Load and Pinch Points
Two port workers were rigging a clamshell bucket to a crane hook. When they had done, they signalled the crane operator to cable up. The clamshell bucket lifted off the dock and began to spin and swing towards a grain hopper leg. The port workers grasped the clamshell bucket attempting to control the movement and prevent it from colliding with the grain hopper leg. The weight and momentum of the clamshell bucket was too great, and one of the workers was momentarily caught between the clamshell bucket and the leg of the hopper. He suffered a broken pelvis and lacerations to his abdomen. The Lessons: Assess the likelihood of uncontrolled movement and eliminate the risk where practicable before [...]
Safety Alert: Vital importance of selecting the right equipment for a potentially hazardous task
This tragic incident on a jack-up oil rig led to three fatalities. Crucially, the operation was undertaken using Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (SCUBA) to access a confined space with a risk of hazardous levels of Hydrogen Sulphide. The SCUBA face masks allowed ingress of toxic gas in this instance. The task should have employed Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA); equipment designed to prevent toxic gas entry into the face mask. There is an acute human factors lesson that the two mask types look similar but are ‘fundamentally different’. Selecting the correct equipment can only happen with a suitable understanding of the risk and the capabilities and limitations of the equipment. Summary The legs of a jack-up [...]
Safety Alert: Lithium-ion Battery Explosion Leads to Fire on Oil Tanker
The National Transportation Safety Board report into a fire on board a docked oil tanker which caused $3 million in damage reveals that the cause of the fire was the thermal runaway of a cell within a handheld radio’s lithium-ion battery. The fire was caused by one of the cells in a lithium-ion battery for an ultra-high-frequency handheld radio exploding. The batteries and chargers for the handheld radios were located on the communications table on the bridge. The vessel’s crew extinguished the fire. Vessel navigation, communication and alarm systems were damaged beyond use. No injuries were reported. Lessons: The risk of thermal runaways and ensuing fires can be reduced by: Following manufacturers’ instructions for the care and [...]
Safety Alert: Four incidents emphasising the critical importance of crane operator and signaller communication during lifting operations
In all the following cases, persons were not in a safe position before cargo was lifted/moved. There were other safety factors in each, but this alert emphasises a common one across all four cases: the importance of getting crane operator - signaller communications right. Case 1 - Loading housing modules. A module was lowered onto a stevedore’s foot as he was positioning dunnage. Case 2 and 3: Two similar incidents in only three days occurred in two separate ports, during loading of pulp. Stevedores were moving to the top of pulp bales from a fixed platform on the quay, to connect hooks. Required safety harness were in use and connected to the platform. In both, the safety line entangled [...]