Beware of hazards in plain sight, warns The Nautical Institute in a new Mars Report. The report describes an incident in which a crew member fell over 11 metres down to the quay due to a gap between a platform railing and the protective cage of a ladder.
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 general cargo ship was berthed to load steel products. The ship had a gantry crane, which ran on rails on the coaming each side of the holds and was used to lift or replace the hatch covers.
A crew member was climbing down from the gantry crane control area to the deck. While proceeding down the ladder, the crew member lost his footing on one of the upper rungs. He initially fell to a platform on the lower part of the gantry crane, but the momentum from the initial fall carried him over the platform railing and then down over the ship’s side railing before finally landing on the quay.
The ladder in question was equipped with a protective cage and the platform under the ladder was equipped with a railing. Between the platform railing and the ladder’s protective cage, there was an unprotected space measuring just over 1 metre. The crew member fell through this space and down onto the quay. The total height of the fall was just over 11 metres.
PPE saves crew member’s life
Other crew members saw the fall and rushed to the quay to administer first aid and call for external assistance. An ambulance soon arrived and took the victim to a local hospital. The crew member was seriously injured by the fall, but did not suffer permanent injuries.
At the time of the accident, the victim was wearing several layers of clothing and a helmet with a chin strap. The clothing and the personal protective equipment probably mitigated the consequences.
Advice from The Nautical Institute
- This accident again illustrates the benefit of doing the rounds of your vessel with “new eyes”. Try and see where hazards exist, but have always been in plain sight. We become too accustomed to hazards in plain sight; we see them as “normal”.
- The victim had used a protective helmet with chin strap. The chin strap, an often-maligned PPE detail, was instrumental in keeping the helmet on his head during the multiple impacts of the fall and may have saved his life.
Mars Reports
This accident was covered in the Mars Reports, originally published as Mars 202507. 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.
Picture: After the accident, the gap was closed with extra fall protection.
