IMCA on OCIMF Working Group updating MEG3

Published on 7 March 2016

The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) has been invited to assist with the Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF) working group on the revision of ‘Mooring Equipment Guidelines’, the third edition – MEG3 – which was published in 2008.

“We are delighted to have a role to play in helping revision of this key document,” says IMCA’s Technical Director, Richard Benzie.”Like all the organisations deliberating over the revisions, our primary aim is to promote ever safer mooring.

“To this end we publish ‘Mooring practice safety guidance for offshore vessels when alongside in ports and harbours’ (IMCA M 214/SEL 029); and safety promotional material including the ‘Mooring Safety’ poster, and the effective ‘Mooring Incidents’ DVD which features actual incidents, and has subtitles in eight languages – English, French, Latin American Spanish, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, Bahasa Indonesia, Tagalog and Russian.

“Members report that this video has had a positive effect on crew awareness when mooring is taking place. Using computer generated animation, the video looks at six real mooring incidents ranging across severity impacts. Being able to see what can happen when things are not done correctly, remains with people in their ‘mind’s eye’ after seeing the video.

“The video was designed to make easy to understand recommendations about what must occur during all mooring situations. This is, after all, a day-to-day operation where familiarity and the belief that routine is safe, can breed complacency. It stresses the need for effective planning, risk assessment and good communication to ensure safety for all individuals involved.”

The DVD has an interesting back story. It was developed as a direct result of a discussion at a routine IMCA Middle East and India section meeting, around the alarming increase in the frequency of injury reports and alerts relating to seemingly avoidable incidents being sustained by personnel performing routine mooring activities. There was agreement at the meeting that there was a need for IMCA to try to help reverse this trend, but that formal guidance was not the most effective tool to convey the message, for the message needed to be easily understood by everyone.

“The new edition of OCIMF’s ‘Mooring Equipment Guidelines’ will review changes in ship and terminal design, operating practices and advances in technology, which sometimes in themselves can provide new and different challenges,” explains Richard Benzie.”We are pleased to be involved in its revision.”