London Club highlights Dangers of Hatch Cover Ops

The London P&I Club has warned its members about the dangers that can arise from the operation of hatch covers, and reminded them of the level of care needed to ensure the safety of personnel involved. In the latest issue of its StopLoss Bulletin, the Club refers to recent reports from a number of maritime safety authorities on this subject, and in particular to incidents reported by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) of the UK Department of Transport and by the Hong Kong Marine Department. The MAIB report concerned the death of a chief officer during a hatch cover removal operation on board a vessel at anchor in the southern North Sea. While the hatch cover was being manoeuvred into a specially adapted position on deck, the chief officer came between it and the accommodation bulkhead. As he did so the hatch cover developed a swing, striking the chief officer and crushing his pelvis against the bulkhead. The MAIB says that factors contributing to the accident involved the chief officer's positioning in a restricted space between the bulkhead and a suspended hatch cover, without an easy exit. The Honk Kong incident, meanwhile, involved the death of a stevedore whose ankle became wrapped in the loose end of a tag line attached to a hatch cover being lifted by the derrick of a dumb lighter. The stevedore was dragged along by the line to the open hatch of a cargo hold, into which he fell to his death.