Volendam - January 2011

Some of the crew were carrying out routine maintenance on one of the starboard lifeboats when the forward lifeboat fall wire parted and 2 crew members fell into the water; the lifeboat remained suspended by the aft lifeboat fall wire. One of the crew members who had fallen into the water was recovered by the rescue boat. However, the other crew member's body was eventually found some 4 hours later by port authority divers.

The wire rope lifeboat fall failed owing to corrosion of the internal wire strands, brought about by a lack of lubrication of the standing part of the wire where it passed around the guide near the terminus of the fall. The section of wire that failed had not been thoroughly inspected or adequately lubricated during the 4 years it had been in service.
The design of the lifeboat davit and associated equipment facilitated a thorough inspection and greasing of the complete wire, but the routine operation for inspecting and greasing the lifeboat falls had not made best use of the equipment provided by the manufacturer, which would have allowed the weight of the lifeboat to be taken off of the wire.

 

Download TAIC New Zealand final report (3MB):

Volendam - January 2001 Final report