BRITES - Very Serious Maritime Casualty
Vessel: BRITES
GAMA reference: 2014-079
Data da ocorrência acidental: 20-03-2014
Circulated on: 01-11-2014
Published on: 03-12-2014
Summary
On 20 March 2014, during the final stage of recovering the trawl aboard BRITES off Norway, a steel wire rope in the fishing gear parted. The whipping rope struck a crew member near the knee and caused traumatic amputation of a leg. The crew provided first aid and requested medical evacuation, but the meteo-oceanographic conditions prevented timely evacuation. The crew member died aboard approximately five hours and forty-five minutes later. The failed rope was not preserved for examination. The investigation concluded that the 18.1 mm rope was undersized for the system and that the winding drum had no guard against projection of a whipping rope.
Safety recommendations
SR01-2014/079, to Sociedade de Pesca Novo Horizonte, Lda.:
SR 079-2014.1: Assess installing steel wire ropes with characteristics ensuring nominal tensile strengths of at least 40 tonnes, supported by a documented analysis of the design, construction and diameter of every steel wire rope forming part of the fishing gear on each vessel, incorporated into an internal written procedure and communicated to the person responsible for safety before each deep-sea fishing voyage. No response status is recorded in the report.
SR 079-2014.2: Assess installing a guard or active braking device on the winding drum to eliminate or reduce the rotational kinetic energy of a whipping wire rope following failure, together with a system for marking hazardous areas aboard the vessels in the fleet. No response status is recorded in the report.
Lessons learned
Steel wire ropes should be sized using all loads, friction, deflection angles, drums and sheaves, rather than empirical practice alone; rope and sheave-groove diameters should be compatible; drums should have guarding or braking to limit whipping after failure; potential impact zones should be marked and kept clear; failed components should be preserved for technical examination; emergency plans should consider delayed medical evacuation in remote areas.