Mooring line failures, often caused by wear, excessive tension, or abrupt ship movements, have led to severe human injuries and loss of life, documented in Gard’s claims history.
A Grim Consequence
The victims are usually the crew handling the line, the winch operator and/or the supervising officer.
A parting line has the potential to flex the whole distance from the place where it parts to the place where it is attached.
A typical example can be found in this investigation report by the Swedish Accident Investigation Branch.
Safety Measures
During the pre-mooring tool box talks, crew members should discuss not only the hazards of snap-back but also potential snap-back zones. Depending on the mooring pattern, the configuration of these unsafe areas can change.
Code of Safe Working Practices recommends that “a bird’s eye view of the mooring deck arrangement is produced to identify danger areas” and that “the whole mooring deck may be considered a danger zone.” Crew members are also recommended to look out for each other and if a fellow crew member is standing in a potentially unsafe area, then they should be warned.
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Source: Gard
