An unfortunate incident occurred on board a general cargo vessel, resulting in the death of a shore technician after they fell from a height while replacing an antenna on the main mast, reports the Shipowners Club.
The incident
At the time of the incident, the vessel was undergoing repairs in dry dock. In addition to the vessel crew, two superintendents (Superintendents A & B) were also on board.
Superintendent A had arranged for a shore technician to replace the VHF antenna, and the day before the scheduled replacement, Superintendent A informed the Master, Chief Engineer (C/E), and Chief Officer (C/O) of the planned work. The Second Officer (2/O), responsible for the navigational equipment, was not on board the vessel at that time.
The next day, at approximately 1330 hrs, two technicians boarded the vessel and met with Superintendent A.
The 2/O, who was in a voyage preparation meeting in the conference room (vessel departure was scheduled for the following day), was instructed by Superintendent A to provide safety harnesses to the shore technicians. However, no further information was provided by Superintendent A to the 2/O regarding the scope of the work.
At 1420 hrs, the 2/O provided safety harnesses to the technicians. No discussions were held on the scope or nature of the work and the 2/O remained unaware of the antenna replacement work scheduled on the main mast.
Earlier at 1400 hrs, the 2/O was separately instructed by Superintendent B to check on the navigational equipment in preparation of the voyage, which the 2/O agreed to carry out after the voyage preparation meeting.
At 1450 hrs, the 2/O arrived on the bridge to begin an inspection of the navigational equipment. Shortly after switching on the S-band radar, they heard a loud thud outside the bridge. Upon investigation, they discovered, and realised, that a technician had been working on the radar mast and had been struck by the rotating radar scanner which resulted in a fall of approximately eight meters from the mast to the compass deck.
The technician sustained serious injury and was immediately sent ashore to the hospital for treatment. Unfortunately, the technician succumbed to their injuries and passed away in the hospital later that evening.
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Source: The Shipowners Club
