Interim Report: Trainee Died After Being Trapped by Steel Plates

Germany’s Federal Bureau of Maritime Casualty Investigation (BSU) has published the Interim Investigation Report into the fatal accident on board the bulk carrier Peter Oldendorff on August 3, 2022.

The fatal accident occurred when the vessels was moored for cargo operations at a berth in the port of Mukran, Germany. A crewmember (fitter-trainee) was to perform welding works in the steering gear room. This required the removal of a plate from a stack stored vertically in a corner of the steering gear room so a piece could be cut out.

The stack was secured against falling over by means of a cross strut locked by a screw connection. Due to the dimensions of the plates forming the stack (dimensions of the plates approximately 300cm x 130cm x 1cm; mass approximately 300 kg each), the trainee was to be assisted by members of the deck crew in removing and handling the individual steel plate. However, these people initially had other tasks to perform.

A crewmember, who went to the steering gear room for a technical check, discovered the trainee there, who was trapped and unconscious between the overturned (and previously released) stack of plates and a shelf mounted on the ship's side.

Despite immediately initiated rescue measures (alerting the crew, freeing the accident victim from his predicament, resuscitation measures by the ship’s crew, medical treatment by the emergency physician called for help), the accident victim did not regain consciousness and died about 30 minutes after he had been discovered.

The investigation into the accident has largely been completed and the BSU is currently in the process of compiling the investigation report. Recreating the incident with a dummy, the investigators concluded that the stack could tip sideways with great force and there would be little realistic way of someone to free themselves.