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Fall from height on bulk carrier Equinox Seas with loss of 1 life

Marine Accident Investigation Branch

September 27
07:07 2024

Accident Investigation Report 12/2024

Read our marine accident investigation report, which includes what happened, subsequent actions taken and recommendations:

MAIB investigation report 12-2024: Equinox Seas

Equinox Seas

Summary

On 17 April 2023, a crewman on board Equinox Seas was fatally injured when he fell 10m down an open ventilation trunk where a fan had been removed for maintenance by the shipyard.

Safety Issues

  • The barrier controls in place in the fan room were insufficient to mitigate the risk of falling from height

  • The specific risks associated with the fan removal had not been assessed or mitigated, which put staff at risk from those hazards

  • Safety on board Equinox Seas was not effectively managed during the entire stay at the shipyard

  • Ineffective communication and coordination between the shipyard and ships staff meant that deficiencies of safety management were not addressed

  • Relevant industry guidance on the management of safety in a shipyard was not incorporated into the working practices of the shipyard

  • The Code of Safe Working Practices for Merchant Seafarers did not contain any guidance related to the risks created or amplified on ships in a shipyard environment

Recommendations

A recommendation (2024/133) has been made to ONEX Syros Shipyards S.A. to update its safety management system to ensure that risks created by the work carried out by its workers are effectively managed and coordinated with a ships crew and that the responsibility for safety is clearly understood between all parties.

MAIB report 9/2019: Seatruck Pace

AIBN report 2016/08: BW Havfrost

MCA Code of safe working practices for merchant seafarers (COSWP) 2024

ILO Safety and health in shipbuilding and ship repair

OCIMF Guidance on health, safety and environment at new-building and repair shipyards and during factory acceptance testing

Updates to this page

Published 27 September 2024

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