200741 Lifeboat fatality - safety cut-outs by-passed

Compiled from 13th session of the IMO Sub-committee on Flag-State implementation

During a lifeboat drill in port, the crew of a container ship had some problems hoisting the lifeboat using the davit winch motor controls on the boat deck. The drill was abandoned but as there was a substantial distance between the suspended lifeboat and the nearest ship's deck, it was thought to be too risky to disembark the crew from this position. After manually hoisting the lifeboat using the winch handle for some time and making several unsuccessful attempts to rectify the fault in the control circuit, the decision was made to run the winch motor by manually operating the contactors from the remote starter panel.

The electrician, who was to operate the contactors, was in radio contact with the mate on deck. The lifeboat was being raised using this method and just before it reached the head of the davit the mate ordered the electrician to stop. However, for reasons unknown, the winch motor continued to hoist and the fall wires parted after the davit cradles reached their stops. The lifeboat fell to the boat deck initially, but the impact of the falling davit cables on the inboard side tipped the lifeboat overside to fall approximately 16 metres to the water. Of the seven crew aboard the lifeboat, one was killed and three others were seriously injured.

Root cause/contributory factors
Inadequate understanding and/or improper operation of the lifeboat winch motor control system;
The hoisting crew did not operate the local emergency stop button when the lifeboat reached the davit head, which would have stopped the winch motor;
The operation of the winch motor by manually operating the motor contactor by-passed the motor's safety cut-outs;
The crew should have been disembarked from the lifeboat by means of the embarkation ladder when the local winch controls were found to be unreliable.

Lessons learnt
Before hoisting a lifeboat, with the craft suspended at a safe minimum height above the water, it must be doubly confirmed that the hooks have been properly reset, and that all controls, emergency stops and limit switches are functional;
A lifeboat should never be hoisted by operating the winch motor from a remote electrical panel as this may by-pass the safety cut-outs, can result in loss of control due to communication difficulties and also pose an electrocution hazard for the operator.