What Makes Mooring Operation Dangerous?

Note: The Intention of this article is not to threaten seafarers but to warn them about the dangers of mooring
operation on ships and educate them on the

procedure to carry it out safety.
A cargo vessels main earning potential is not tested from the amount of time it travels at the sea but from the efficiency of its operation at ports where the
cargo is handled.
An efficient port and cargo operation of a ship is what every ship operator expects from its deck crew. The first and foremost operation performed by the deck
crew as the ship reaches the port the mooring operation, is also one of the most difficult and dangerous jobs on ships.
What makes Mooring Operation dangerous?
There have been several cases reported in the past about accidents during mooring operation that has led to severe damage or deaths of seafarer.
The mooring area on a ship comprises of foreword and aft parts of a vessel where winches are installed to pull the ropes from tug and jetty bollards.
The Mooring area is equipped with several equipment and systems such as winches, hydraulic motors, bollards, piping valves, anchor chain etc.
Following factors make this mooring area and operation dangerous:
Use of old and damaged wires and ropes
Unclear mooring area with unused ropes and equipment
Mooring ropes are not fastened but stored at winch drum end
Mooring equipment are not maintained properly
Undersized and untrained operating staff
Supervisor of operation is involved with some other work as a result of less crew members
The painting of mooring area is badly planned with all surfaces and equipment painted with same colour not highlighting hazardous and tripping
sights
Over painting of drum including corners causing rope damage

No warning marks painted
Non slip deck is not available
Crew not aware of Snap Back Zone
Crew not aware of dangers of rope bight
Personal Protective Equipment are not used
Rope and metal line are joined directly without using thimble which may lead to parting of rope
Inspection and tests of mooring machineries and ropes are not carried regularly
Ropes are not arranged on split type drum correctly. The smaller drum must have 4-5 turns and rest of it should be on larger drum
All the above points are considered by the supervisor i.e. Chief officer or 2nd officer while preparing a mooring operation beforehand.
From the above listed points, two important and dangerous phenomena which are responsible for maximum causalities in mooring of a ship and which are
also considered as death traps are-
1) Snap Back Zone:
The highest number of injuries and deaths during a mooring operation on a ship are due to parting of the rope or wire hitting back to a crew member standing
in the area of the rope. The area travelled by the parted rope having a force enough to kill a person on its way is known as snap back zone.
When ropes are pulled straight then the snap back zone is minimal but if the ropes are turned in bollard or roller then the snap back area increase. This is
shown in the diagram below:
Ship has to be pulled by tugs or by ships own winches for making it close to the jetty for berthing. This requires strong ropes and wire to be stretched in
tension for pulling the ship. Every rope and wire has got its own endurance limit above which it will fail and part off. The endurance limit will get reduce if the
rope is old or not maintained properly.
The rope will break or part when it is in tension due to pulling action and when these parted rope swings back in its snap back zone and hits a person standing
there, it can be a deadly blow.
The snap back zones in forward part of the ship undergoing mooring operation increases well in number due to several restrains and turn points with lines in
tension as shown in the diagram
The crew performing the operation must be thoroughly trained and qualified with the snap back zone. The ship fore and aft parts must highlight the snap back
zone with signalling paints so that the crew will be aware not to be on that painted mark when the ropes are under tension.
2) Rope Bight:
Mooring ropes are long and heavy ropes stored on board ships in coil form. When these ropes are under operation, they tend to form a coil or ring shape
naturally known as rope bight.
If a person involved in mooring operation comes under this rope bight, the pull of the rope can drag him over the ship or smash him in the hard deck over
machines. Several injuries and deaths have been reported due to crew unaware of standing over bight and dragged by the rope.
The best ways to avoid accidents due to rope bight are:
Crew must be aware of where he is standing while handling the ropes or when near them.
Supervisor must concentrate on others action and should not involve himself/herself in the operation as working hand.
Inexperienced crew such as cadets and fresh ratings should bellowed to handle rope only under supervision
Only required crew should be present on mooring station. It has been commonly seen that those people who are not involved in the operation
(Engine crew or off timers coming on deck) visit the mooring operation area. Thus, notice should be placed for restricted entry.
Enough number of deck hands to be present on mooring station to perform the operation smoothly.
Remember, Bights dont always look like bights.
Safety of human life on ship must be the first priority of all operations performed.
Life is precious, always think about Safety First.

What Makes Mooring Operation Dangerous?

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

What Makes Mooring Operation Dangerous?

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

What Makes Mooring Operation Dangerous?

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Note: The Intention of this article is not to threaten seafarers but to warn them about the dangers of mooring

operation on ships and educate them on the

What makes Mooring Operation dangerous?

Following factors make this mooring area and operation dangerous:

Use of old and damaged wires and ropes

Unclear mooring area with unused ropes and equipment

Mooring equipment are not maintained properly

Undersized and untrained operating staff

Over painting of drum including corners causing rope damage

Non slip deck is not available

Crew not aware of Snap Back Zone

Crew not aware of dangers of rope bight

Personal Protective Equipment are not used

1) Snap Back Zone:

there, it can be a deadly blow.

Remember, Bights dont always look like bights.

Life is precious, always think about Safety First.

You might also like

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.