Planning and preparation vital to reduce man
overboard fatalities At a special event to mark UK Maritime Safety Week event last month, a demonstration of man overboard recovery techniques highlighted how little time there is to effect a successful rescue.
MAIB, (Marine and Accident Investigation Bureau), analysis has revealed that, on average, crew have under 11 minutes to recover someone who has fallen overboard into cold water before they become unresponsive. The analysis of 20 accidents that occurred between 2017 and 2021 shows that the time decreases as the water becomes colder or the sea state rougher. In some cases, crew had just 4 or 5 minutes to coordinate a complex recovery under extreme pressure.
Separate data sheds further light on the scale of the challenge of recovering a casualty back on board. When examining the rate of successful recovery we found that, of the 308 man overboard occurrences reported to us between 2015 and 2023, tragically 40% led to a fatality.
Recreational sector data is concerning, with data indicating that almost half (47%) of occurrences reported to the MAIB from pleasure craft resulted in a fatality. This rises further in the fishing industry, with just over half of the man overboard incidents (56%) ending in tragedy.
While overall rates are lower for other parts of the industry, the hazard remains. Of the 20 man overboard incidents from cargo vessels, 6 resulted in the loss of a crew member. Inland waterways saw 6 fatalities from 24 incidents and passenger ships 8 incidents resulting in 1 fatality. For service ships, the rate of recovery was the best in the industry with 85% successful.
To launch this year’s Maritime Safety Week 2023, Maritime Minister Baroness Vere joined the MAIB and Royal Yachting Association (RYA) at a special demonstration to raise industry awareness of the challenges of man overboard recovery. Held at Westminster Boating Base on the River Thames, the Met Police Marine Police Unit gave a live demonstration of the techniques that crew need to deploy to recover an incapacitated person from the water from a high sided vessel without specialist equipment.
RYA Chief Instructor Vaughan Marsh spoke of the importance of training, preparation and practice. He also highlighted the different challenges depending on type of vessel or sea condition. A crew transfer vessel provided by Offshore Turbine Services Ltd was on hand to display the variety of solutions available in the commercial sector to make man overboard lifting easier. In addition, representatives from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations (NFFO) and British Marine participated in a discussion of the challenges.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32
