Unfortunately, the messages were not getting through and a short while later a person travelling to work on the River Thames suffered a very serious back injury when the RIB they were travelling on crossed the wake of another vessel at about 30 knots. The worker was sitting on top of a locker with no padding or handholds and had their rucksack across their chest.
when the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) updated the small commercial craft codes it included a requirement that every passenger in a commercially operated passenger- carrying RIB had a suitable seat.
The Osprey RIBs accident also highlighted the hazards of fast/high- speed craft operating close to each other where, unless their manoeuvres were well coordinated, the risk of collision could be high. Although the two RIBs usually passed each other during a scheduled high-speed turn, on the day of the accident their start positions were reversed. As the RIBs approached each other head-on, the skippers were confused as to whether they should pass ‘as normal’ or follow the COLREGs and each alter to starboard. Although both skippers reduced speed the RIBs collided, crushing a passenger against the console. Had the risk of collision during the turn been considered before the trip, risk mitigation measures could have been planned.
Head-on impact risks for passengers on RIBs
On 22 August 2020, the
commercially operated RIB Seadogz hit a navigation buoy at high speed in Southampton Water. The skipper and the 11 passengers suffered impact injuries. Two passengers were thrown into the water and 15-year- old Emily Lewis, who was sitting in the middle of the bench seat, sustained fatal injuries.
Image courtesy MAIB
The combination of the hard seat and poor posture resulted in the victim suffering anterior wedge fractures of the first and third lumbar vertebrae (L1 and L3). The victim was fitted with an external body brace in hospital and remained off work for more than four months while recovering, though was still receiving physiotherapy treatment eight months after the accident.
In response to MAIB’s recommendations, the industry produced two voluntary codes of practice for RIB operators, but initial take-up was patchy.
The collision between Osprey and Osprey II that left a passenger with life- changing injuries highlighted how vulnerable passengers in small boats were to side impact injuries. Accidents involving small race boats had shown how easily one boat hitting the other side-on could ride up and over it, and that the passengers in the receiving boat had little or no protection. RIBs were particularly vulnerable as the shape of the tubes helped lift the bow of the colliding boat so it crossed the seating area, and any passengers seated on the tubes could take the full force of the impact. Not only was it impossible to maintain a good posture when seated on a tube, but the added risks from side impact were considered too high and MAIB recommended that
MAIB’s investigation concluded that the skipper did not see the buoy in sufficient time to avoid it as he had lost positional awareness, most likely due to the high mental workload of operating the RIB alone and at high speed. Furthermore, the seating and handholds on the RIB afforded little protection to the passengers during rapid deceleration, the operator’s safety management procedures were cursory and generic, and the current regulations for such operations needed updating. Other safety issues were also identified. Two of the passengers were ejected into the water, one of whom started to panic as their lifejacket rode up on inflation as it had not been fitted properly. From the helm position, the bow-up trim of the RIB and the passengers’ heads combined to limit the skipper’s forward visibility.
THE REPORT | DEC 2024 | ISSUE 110 | 59
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