Emergencies Flashcards
Drills and frequency
- Fire & Abandon ship: Monthly or when 25% personnel change. Must be completed within 24 hours of leaving port when more than 25% of crew did not participate in previous month
- Enclosed Space: 2 months
- Rescue Boat: Launched each month
- Security: 3 months or 25% change in crew (7 Days)
- SOPEP: As required by SOPEP or SMS
- Emergency steering gear: 3 months
- Medical: 3 months
- Damage Control: 3 months
What is contained in a safety briefing for new passengers?
- Actions upon hearing an alarm
- Muster location
- Emergency escapes
- Location and donning of life jackets
- General alarm
Collision
Initial
- Sound general alarm
- Stop main engines - If imbedded, slight forward momentum may be required
- Close all watertight doors
- Muster crew and passengers - check for casualties or missing persons
- Establish comms with other vessel
- Assess the extent of damage by visual inspection of the area of impact
- Assess immediate effect on GM and the continued effect on GM
- Consider additional factors such as risk of fire, pollution
- Establish communications with damage control party
- Damage control party mustered at the incident scene
- Pumping arrangements ready
- Engine room facilities kept on standby
- Position on chart etablished and safe port options investigated
- Consider anchoring if possible
- Record all details of the collision including pictures and video evidence, OLB etc
- Display appropriate lights and day shapes
- Urgency or distress as required
- Consider abandon ship if required
Other Vessel:
Master is legally obliged to provide the other vessel with the following particulars:
1. The name of his ship
2. Port of registry
3. Port of departure
4. Port of destination
- The Master is further obliged to render all possible assistance to the other vessel until no longer required
Follow up
- Report made to the MAIB as soon as practicable including a brief description of the incident
- Entry made into Official logbook describing the sequence of events
- Report sent to current Port State, Classification Society and Flag State
- Inform DPA
Grounding
Initial
- Stop main engines
- Sound general alarm
- Close all watertight doors
- Muster crew and passengers - check for casualties or missing persons
- Assess the extent of damage by visual inspection of the area of impact
- Establish communications with damage control party and see that emergency procedures are followed
- Damage control party mustered at the incident scene
- Pumping arrangements ready
- Engine room facilities kept on standby
- Sound all tanks
- Position on chart etablished and depth
- Weather and tide forecasts
- Determine if the vessel is being carried into further danger - consider the use of anchors
- Record all details of the grounding including pictures and video evidence, logbooks etc
- Display appropriate lights and day shapes
- Report to VTS in the area
- Consider urgency or distress if required
- Before any further actions, consider:
1. Weather and sea state
2. Range of tide
3. Nature of seabed
4. Depth of water around the vessel
5. Damaged stability - reduce ballast or tanks to refloat
- If unable to refloat, request assistance
- Consider abandon ship if required
Follow up
- Report made to the MAIB as soon as practicable including a brief description of the incident
- Entry made into official logbook describing the sequence of events
- Report sent to current Port State, Classification Society and Flag State
- Inform DPA
Flooding
Initial
- Sound general alarm
- Close all watertight doors
- Muster crew and passengers - check for casualties or missing persons
- Assess the extent of the flooding
- Establish communications with damage control party and see that emergency procedures are followed
- Damage control party mustered at the incident scene
- Pumping arrangements ready
- Engine room facilities kept on standby
- Sound all tanks
- Position on chart etablished as well as depth, nearest safe port/anchorage etc
- Weather and tide forecasts
- Record all details of the grounding including pictures and video evidence, logbooks etc
- Broadcast urgency or distress as required
- Consider beaching if possible
- Abandon ship if required
Follow up
- Report made to the MAIB as soon as practicable including a brief description of the incident
- Entry made into official logbook describing the sequence of events
- Report sent to current Port State, Classification Society and Flag State
- Inform DPA
Actions when encountering bad weather
Navigation and vessel
* Consider re-routing.
* Find a lee shore.
* Verify the vessel position.
* Update weather report.
* Plot storm position often.
* Engage manual steering.
* Reduce speed.
* Be ready to alter course and speed to make reduce risk of broaching, pooping damage to hull or superstructure.
* Check stability and ballast down.
* Potentially go to sea if at anchor or in port
Crew and passengers
* Make a public announcement to stop all work on deck and restrict access.
* Warn all departments to secure their work area.
* Chef to prepare food in advance
* Re-arrange working hours to ensure adequate bridge cover.
Chief Officer:
* Check deck lights
* Loose gear removed from deck
* Hatches, scuppers, freeing ports etc clear
* Watertight doors are closed
Engineers:
* Engine checks
* Steering gear checks
* Engine room secure
Steering failure
Initial
- Master called
- Navigational risk assessment
- Traffic in vicinity
- Proximity to nav hazards
- Depth of water
- Watertight doors if in danger
- Plot position
- Reduce speed
- Engine room informed
- Try different steering pumps
- Try different steering modes
- Establish comms with emergency steering compartment
- Engage emergency steering
- If no good, try to centre the rudders for towing/limping home
- NUC lights/shapes up
- AIS Status updated
- VTS or port authority informed as appropriate
- Safety or urgency broadcast as appropriate
- Check for nearest anchorage/safe port
- Attempt to limp home using main engines and thrusters
- If not possible, consider towage
- Record all details including pictures and video evidence in logbooks
Follow up
- Report made to the MAIB as soon as practicable including a brief description of the incident
- Entry made into official logbook describing the sequence of events
- Report sent to current Port State, Classification Society and Flag State
- Inform DPA
Beaching
Initial
- Trim by the stern as much as possible by adding ballast aft and removing from forward
- Alert all crew and passengers of imminent grounding
- Drop both anchors several boat lengths from shore. Can be used to refloat or to tie the stern onto to prevent movement
- Drive the vessel as far up the beach as possible
- Take on additional ballast, particularly up forward to secure the hull
- Take precautions to prevent oil pollution
- Abandon ship
Follow up
- Report made to the MAIB as soon as practicable including a brief description of the incident
- Entry made into official logbook describing the sequence of events
- Report sent to current Port State, Classification Society and Flag State
- Inform DPA
When to abandon ship
Should only be considered in two circumstances:
- When all measures to keep the vessel afloat have failed and the vessel is sinking
- When the vessel is still afloat, but no longer able to stay onboard ie heat/smoke from fire
Considerations:
- Freeboard left.
- Weather conditions.
- Stability of the vessel in distress.
- Geographic position.
- Lifesaving appliances available and their condition.
- Casualties present, and expected, by remaining aboard or abandoning.
- Numbers of persons to consider and their experience.
- Range of search and rescue craft and the time factor.
- Communications with rescue services.
- The danger of explosion.
- The danger of the situation worsening, and the time when abandonment can be safely carried out being missed.
Fire onboard - actions?
Person who finds the fire:
- Raise the alarm/inform the bridge
- If possible, tackle the fire immediately
OOW:
- Raise the general/fire alarm
- Call the Master
- Reduce speed
- Fix position
- Close watertight and fire doors
- Shut down ventilation
- Wait for Master to take con
Master:
- Take the con following full report from the OOW
- Check for crew/passenger head count
- Establish communication with OSC
- Organise fire fighting activities
- Boundary cooling to be started
- Pumping arrangements on standby
- Fuel shut offs
- Order activation of fixed fire systems where required
- Communications with the outside world
- Mayday or urgency
- Consider weather and stability criteria as appropriate
- Log of all events and decisions made
- Reduce the smoke effect by altering course and speed
- Consider abandoning ship
Follow up:
- Accident Report Form
- Inform DPA, Flag, Class, MAIB
- Entry made into OLB including ARF annexed
Main Engine Failure
Initial
- Master Called
- Establish level of danger vessel is in.
- Position of other vessels in the vicinity checked
- Distance from nav hazards
- Close watertight doors
- Hand steering engaged
- Use of thrusters
- Anchor prepared/dropped if possible
- Comms established with ER - determine cause and time to fix
- NUC lights/day shapes displayed
- AIS status updated
- VTS or Port Authority informed as required
- Safety or Urgency message broadcast if appropriate
- Log/record all actions and events
- Require assistance - tug?
Follow up:
- Raise non-conformity if equipment damaged
- Inform DPA, Flag, Class and MAIB
- Entry made in OLB
