LTI – Struck when anchor wire end pulled free of drum clamps

What happened?

A person was seriously injured when he was struck by the end of a 58mm anchor wire. The incident occurred when crew were working on replacing out several 58mm anchor wires. The injured person was walking behind an anchor winch which had a single turn of wire remaining on it. The vessel moved off the quay. Tension came on the wire, which was connected to a spooler ashore. The stoppers in use failed, and the wire end pulled free of the already loosened clamps, whipping over the drum. He was struck across the shoulders/lower neck and suffered several skull fractures when he was pushed into an adjacent bulkhead by the impact, before falling to the deck semi-conscious.

What went right?

• The crew had safely replaced three of the 58mm wires over the previous five days without incident;
• The first aid and subsequent hospital care were excellent, and the injured person left hospital three days later with no lasting ill effects.

What went wrong?

• A generic ‘mooring operations’ risk assessment was being used. Toolbox Talks had been conducted and documented, but these were based around a clearly inadequate risk assessment (and nobody questioned it during the TBT);
• The stopper arrangement was inadequate. Wires must only ever be stoppered to a suitable strong point using chain stoppers, as detailed in the Code of safe working practices for merchant seafarers (COSWP) 2021;
• Safety chains had not been deployed behind the winch. At that stage of the operation, there was a ‘Line of Fire’ hazard (an alternative route would only have taken about twenty seconds more);
• Insufficient attention was being paid to the tension on the wire by the spooler operators;
• Perceived time pressures and fatigue may also have been factors.

Lessons learned

• More thorough planning and more thorough risk assessment would have eliminated most of the several factors which contributed to this incident.
• Adequate time and resources should be allowed in operational plans to allow for effective risk assessment; both vessel crew, project crew and shore-based management have responsibilities in this respect.

Members may wish to refer to:

• Failure of 64mm polyester rope in subsea mooring operations
• Rope under tension parted on deck