Casting a light on lifeboat injuries

From Maritime Journal

‘There’s a mission here. To help keep seafarers alive’, Bob Couttie of Maritime Accident Casebook told Maritime Journal regarding the launch of the latest round of the Lifeboat Safety Survey.

The issue is serious. Mr Couttie explained that lifeboat accidents are a major concern, causing deaths and injuries every year. ‘However, we don’t know how many, he said ‘There are big questions that need to be answered, and it seems that a large proportion of the industry bodies either don’t have the information, or, very possibly, they are unwilling to release it.’

He went on to say that recent efforts by the International Maritime Organisation may go some way towards reducing the risks of lifeboat launch and recovery during drills but this lack of current statistical data hampers regulatory efforts.

The last section (for which data is still being collected) addresses lifeboat accidents from the point of view of casualty investigators and has already turned up some preliminary results. For example, there is a view emerging that although lifeboat design is adequate, it is too complex to launch. There is also an issue with the lifeboat manuals, which often suffer from ambiguity of language or tend to be ‘generic’ rather than specific to the model found onboard.

There are also those who think that unload release hooks are not fit for purpose. This is not in itself surprising, said Mr Couttie. ‘We know there are 75 varieties of unload release hooks out there, and a significant proportion are actually dangerous. It’s quite shocking. But this is the first time the data is being collected to give a statistical review.’

Mr Couttie concluded, ‘We are trying to get a clear picture of lifeboat safety experience and opinion from all industry stakeholders, especially seafarers.’

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