Always stop work when something seems out of the ordinary. The Nautical Institute gives this advice in its latest Mars Report in which a crane defect was uncovered on time.
The Nautical Institute gathers reports of maritime accidents and near-misses. It then publishes these so-called Mars (Mariners’ Alerting and Reporting Scheme) Reports (anonymously) to prevent other accidents from happening. This is one of these reports.
A vessel was in dry dock and crew were engaged in various maintenance tasks. In the engine room, the gantry crane was being used to lift the main engine. The supervisor noticed that the crane’s hook was not able to rotate under load. Work was stopped, the load relieved, and the hook was disassembled to permit investigation.
It was found that the inner mechanism of the hook was in poor condition. The thrust bearing was damaged and the threads of the hook were in poor condition.
Also read: Fatal fall from crane grab
Advice from The Nautical Institute
A stop work initiative is always advisable if a dangerous situation arises or if something seems out of the ordinary or not “normal”.
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Mars Reports
This accident was covered in the Mars Reports, originally published as Mars 202423, that are part of Report Number 378. A selection of the Mars Reports are also published in the SWZ|Maritime magazine. The Nautical Institute compiles these reports to help prevent maritime accidents. That is why they are also published (in full) on SWZ|Maritime’s website.
More reports are needed to keep the scheme interesting and informative. All reports are read only by the Mars coordinator and are treated in the strictest confidence. To submit a report, please use the Mars report form.
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