What happened? During routine maintenance, it was reported that the engine room hatch was left open with no physical barriers around, creating the potential for serious injury if distracted persons […]
Safety Flashes
IMCA safety flashes disseminate important information on incidents and potential hazards and the lessons learnt from them that can help prevent incidents occurring elsewhere in the industry.
Individual safety events are available individually online, tagged and searchable, while the traditional PDF collections are also available for download.
Submit a Report
All members are encouraged to contribute relevant safety-related information – please visit our Safety Flash Reporting page for details on the submission process.
IMCA Contact
Nicholas Hough
Consultant - Safety and Security
Contact
Safety Events
Potential for diver injury operating a hand-held torque wrench
What happened? A diver was involved in a near miss that could have resulted in serious injury when he was asked to function an ROV valve override on a subsea […]
Chain hoist failure resulting in a serious near miss
What happened? During maintenance of a vessel’s main engine there was a requirement to remove the charge air cooler weighing 400kg. The third-party contractor who was tasked with the maintenance […]
COVID-19 update
For the latest information and advice on the COVID-19 outbreak, including an overview of countries with confirmed cases and current assessments of risk, please browse to the World Health Organisation’s […]
Damage and engine room flooding following contact by tugboat
What happened? A vessel suffered damage to the hull and engine room flooding due to contact with a tugboat during berthing. One of two tugs lost manoeuvrability and bumped into […]
Trencher angle inadvertently altered
What happened? During offshore trenching operations, the ROV pilot unknowingly made contact with the control joystick, inadvertently raising the cutting wheel and thereby decreasing the cutting depth. No equipment or […]
Marine Safety Forum: two incidents relating to fast rescue craft
The Marine Safety Forum (MSF) has published two recent Safety Alerts relating to Fast Rescue Craft (FRCs). In the first, an FRC capsized during launch. The second covers launching conditions […]
Lifting operation resulting in dropped objects from flexible intermediate bulk container
What happened? Multiple metal objects were dropped during a lifting operation using a flexible intermediate bulk container (FIBC). It was being used to lift garbage from a below deck stores […]
Dropped load and failed chain
What happened? A chain link failed causing a load of over 260kg to fall 1.5m to deck. The incident occurred during transfer of a bundle of scrap cable, when a […]
Near miss: failure of work procedures during hot work at height
What happened? During a crew change handover walk around the vessel hull, the Master observed a welder working close to the open/unsecured edge of a PS davit area. The incident […]
High potential LTI: rigger ear injury
What happened? A crewman suffered a serious ear injury whilst removing some temporary rigging suspended from a crane gantry walkway. The incident could have been much more serious; the potential […]
LTI: finger injury caused while working with oil drums
What happened? A crewmember suffered a fracture to the right-hand ring finger whilst arranging 200l oil drums. The injured person was moving drums from a container using a pallet truck, […]
Potential for diver injury operating a hand-held torque wrench
What happened? A diver was involved in a near miss that could have resulted in serious injury when he was asked to function an ROV valve override on a subsea […]
Statement on COVID-19 from UAE ministry of foreign affairs and international cooperation
The United Arab Emirates Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation issued a statement on the 24th February 2020 detailing a travel ban to Iran and Thailand following recent concerns […]
Impact of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak on Singapore-registered ships
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has issued Shipping Circular No. 3 of 2020 relating to the impact of COVID-19 on Singapore-registered ships. It is applicable to Ship […]
Joint statement IMO-WHO on the response to the COVID-19 outbreak
The Director-General of WHO (the World Health Organisation) and the Secretary-General of IMO (the International Maritime Organization) have jointly issued the attached statement Circular Letter No.4204/Add.2 to assist States in […]
High potential near miss: dropped object from turbine tower
What happened? At a wind turbine tower, chains weighing 17kg fell 84m. The incident occurred during the pulling through of a 66kv HV cable during installation. The surplus chain came […]
High potential dropped object – chains
What happened? A set of heavy chain links, or ‘Brothers’ used in lifting, fell from a turbine tower onto the front deck of a Crew Transfer Vehicle (CTV) below. The […]
High potential dropped objects from wind turbine Nacelle crane
What happened? Two lifting bags detached and fell from the crane hook on a wind turbine tower. The incident occurred during lowering operations at the end of an annual service […]
Plastic cover on smoke detector
What happened? During an inspection of vessel accommodation by shore management, it was observed that a plastic cover was obstructing a smoke detector. During construction work in the area the […]
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