The United States Coastguard (USCG) has published Safety Alert 04-20 relating to an incident where a causal factor in a number of fatalities was incorrect information entered into vessel AIS […]
Safety Flashes
IMCA safety flashes disseminate important information on incidents and potential hazards and the lessons learnt from them that can help prevent incidents occurring elsewhere in the industry.
Individual safety events are available individually online, tagged and searchable, while the traditional PDF collections are also available for download.
Submit a Report
All members are encouraged to contribute relevant safety-related information – please visit our Safety Flash Reporting page for details on the submission process.
IMCA Contact
Nicholas Hough
Technical Adviser - HSSE and Offshore Survey
Contact
Safety Events
Crewman fatally injured while stood on the stern ramp of Seatruck Progress
What happened? The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has published Accident Investigation Report 10/2020 into the death of the Third Officer of Seatruck Progress, when he was struck and […]
Man overboard from stinger
What happened? A member of the crew fell overboard through an opening in the stinger. The incident occurred with the vessel alongside in port. A team of three electricians were […]
Trip and fall down hotel stairs causing serious wrist injury
What happened? Whilst engaged in business travel, an employee of one of our members slipped and fell when descending a hotel staircase. He sustained multiple fractures and dislocation of the […]
Fall from a height into a ballast tank
What happened? A worker inside a ballast tank fell from height. The incident happened when a welder and two welder helpers were installing additional stiffeners on the inside of […]
Serious injury caused by high-pressure washer
What happened? A work team supervisor sustained a laceration to his upper right thigh caused by a high-pressure water jet. The injury required several stitches and the injured party was […]
UK HSE: Workers injured by unplanned release of mud slurry
What happened An electricity power station company was prosecuted after three contractors were injured by a sudden release of water and sludge, while carrying out maintenance work. Three crew were […]
Unsafe lifting operations – potential dropped object
What happened? The Marine Safety Forum (MSF) has published Safety Alert 19-15 relating to a potential dropped object during unsafe lifting operations. An observation was recorded during a routine vessel […]
Poor condition of on-board equipment
What happened? During ‘safety walk arounds’ on one of our members’ vessels, certain equipment was seen to be in poor condition. In the first case, a fire blanket in the […]
MAIB: fatal man overboard incident whilst boarding tug
What happened? The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has published Accident Investigation Report 15/2019 into a fatality whereby a man fell overboard whilst boarding a tug at an oil […]
Worker fell into sea from gangway and drowned
What happened? The Singapore Tripartite Alliance for Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) has published Accident Notification 1920060 relating to a fatal fall from a gangway. This incident is still under […]
Near miss during helicopter operations
What happened? During helicopter flight boarding, a member of the crew crossed a hard barrier (stairway access chain) with a restriction sign and approached the flight deck from the aft […]
Water ingress during tropical storm
What happened? A vessel took on a significant amount of rainwater on the upper tween deck during an intense tropical storm. At the time of the storm, the forward crane […]
LTI: step into open deck hatch causes fall
What happened? During personnel transfer operations on an offshore renewables crew transfer vessel (CTV), a deckhand stepped backwards into an open hatch and fell, resulting in an injury. Before the […]
Improper use of heaving line
What happened? During a mooring operation, vessel crew were found to be using a 4 ton shackle attached to a heaving line (instead of proper “monkey fist”). What went wrong? […]
Vessel hit and destroyed fender
What happened? A vessel collided with the quay, destroying the fenders. The vessel picked up the pilot and proceeded towards the harbour. The wind was SSW 4-5 with good visibility. […]
Uncontrolled movement of retractable gangway
What happened? During lifting up and securing of a vessel’s retractable gangway, the spring latch of the lifting device disconnected causing an uncontrolled release of the holding wire, and the […]
Diver trapped by Anchor Chain
What happened? During diving operations to locate a pipeline end manifold (PLEM) near a single point mooring (SPM), a diver was trapped by an anchor chain. The incident occurred when […]
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