Case Studies

The Chief Officer heard the deck cadet’s radio transmission and went to the access hatch. He immediately recognised the need to carry out an enclosed space rescue.

An offshore supply vessel left the berth upstream of the buoy tender and was outbound. Around this time, the buoy tender crew had secured a large buoy on deck; the crew were heaving in the chain.

A tug was pushing two steel tank barges loaded with naphtha on an inland waterway. The Master had been at the con/helm for several hours before retiring to his cabin for some rest. About 4.5 hours later, a little after 0500, the Master awoke and proceeded to the wheelhouse to assume the watch, even though his watch normally started at 0600.

A loaded general cargo vessel left berth to anchor in the river for repairs before proceeding to sea. The pilot decided to use both anchors; however, rough weather resulted in a minor collision with another anchored ship.

In darkness, a vessel was proceeding to a busy anchorage under the con of a pilot who had just boarded. The pilot and the Master engaged in small talk as they proceeded and there was also an OOW and a lookout on the bridge.

A ro-ro vessel was inbound and had just boarded a pilot. The Master was soon to take a pilot exemption certificate for the port, so he asked the pilot for permission to manoeuvre the vessel into the harbour under the pilot’s supervision. The pilot had no objections.

A deck officer was tasked to escort an accredited technician to inspect the free-fall lifeboat air cylinders while the vessel was in port. The technician requested that the officer assist him by opening the air cylinder valves one by one to check the pressure.