Life boats are for saving not losing lives!
Lifeboats are designed to save lives, but over the years too
many seafarers have lost their lives or been seriously injured during routine
safety exercises in davit-suspended boats fitted with on-load release hooks.
The ship that cannot sink is yet to be constructed, so vessels need to be
fitted with life-saving appliances, for the safety of crew and passengers. In
the early days of sailing vessels, such means would be the work boats of the
ship or any floating object to hang on to. The risks a seaman faced were well
known and in coastal communities it was not an unexpected fate to end one’s
life at sea.
Passenger ships represented a particular challenge. The
terrible I & B accident in 1912 is the one we remember, but it was not at
all the first major one. In the 19th century emigrants on transatlantic
passages lost their lives in the thousands. But the loss of over 1,500 lives
out of 3500 on board the huge, modern and luxurious vessel “that could not
sink” and the shock to realize that the vessel only had lifeboat capacity for
half the people on board, put the safety of passengers and crew on the agenda.
The Convention on Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) was adopted
in 1914 as the first international regulations on the subject and regulated
that there should be means of rescue for everyone on board. Due to the First
World War, however, it took some time for these first international regulations
to take effect. Further SOLAS revisions of 1929, 1948, 1960 and 1974 plus
amendments thereafter have strengthened the regulations for life-saving means,
requiring both lifeboats and life rafts on board.
For the safety of lives, the regulators have always
considered the lifeboats to be the most important and the life rafts more as a
supplement. Among seamen, however, for many years there has been a lack of
confidence in lifeboats, which have been seen as rather difficult and dangerous
to launch.
Actually, lifeboats did not evolve very fast from the types
on board the TITANIC and for a long time remained as open, wooden boats
suspended from davits. Glass fiber-reinforced polyester took over as a building
material and one out of two boats also got an engine. It was not seen as
necessary to have an expensive motor in both the port and starboard boat, as
one could tow the other. Covered lifeboats were first required by the SOLAS
amendments of 1983 and became mandatory for ships built after 1st July 1986.
From then on, shipwrecked seamen leaving a tanker on fire and those to face the
North Atlantic in winter or dehydration under a tropical sun stood a better
chance to survive. As the vessels grew larger, so did the lifeboats and the
distance from the boat deck to the sea level.
Easy to operate gravity davits had long been introduced, but
one problem remained from the old days: the difficulty of releasing the
lifeboat hooks in a sea swell, and preferably both hooks at the same time. Many
seamen have suffered bruises to the head, and broken fingers were not uncommon,
in a fight with the heavy blocks. Some release systems were therefore
introduced by manufacturers, making it possible to let go of both davit falls
simultaneously, by a wire or rod pull from one location of the boat. That made
the seaman’s life easier during lifeboat exercises, but in heavy seas the
release of both hooks at the same time was still very difficult.
No one knows how many lifeboats have accidentally fallen
down, how many lives have been lost and how many people have been injured as a
result. This is because many ships may not report all incidents. National authorities
of traditional seafaring nations may require their ships to report accidents,
but when viewing their annual reports, it is not always clear what happened in
a lifeboat accident and whether on-load release gear was involved. In addition
to accidents with lifeboats on board ships, it should not be forgotten that
there have also been several accidents on board oil rigs, but there are no
reliable figures available for them either.
Serious personal injury or death of a seaman will normally
end up in the records of a P&I Club. However, even P&I Clubs are not
able to provide exact figures, because the Clubs have different systems to
register such accidents (for instance, they may be registered under “Lifeboat”,
”Lifesaving appliances”, “Injury”, “Death”, “Fall”, etc.) and Clubs do not
report these accidents to any central agency for a total count.
The accidental release of a lifeboat usually happens during
exercise or when maintenance work is being carried out. In most cases one hook
releases first and the boat may swing like a pendulum. The second hook may
release or be torn out of the deck. If there are people on board they will
sometimes escape unharmed by just falling into the sea and then being rescued.
Although very close to a fatal accident, such near-misses may not be reported
at all. It is perhaps natural to try to avoid negative publicity in such cases.
In accordance with SOLAS & LSA Code, every crew member
shall participate in at least one abandon ship drill and one fire drill every
month. During the abandon ship drill, at least one lifeboat is lowered upto the
embarkation deck.
Whilst lowering the life-boat upto the embarkation deck,
risk assessment, weather conditions, safety precautions, supervision, due care
and diligence should be exercised to prevent any untoward accident/incident
occurring.
Further, lifeboats and rescue boat are required to be
launched with their assigned crew aboard and maneuvered in the water at least
once every three months. On account of the dangers involved, this should only
be practiced in sheltered waters under the supervision of an experienced
officer.
A more recent development on cargo ships is a free fall
lifeboat, in lieu of davit launched lifeboats. On account of the dangers
involved in launching such boats, its simulated launching is acceptable.
Lifeboats and rescue boats have been provided to save lives,
but if the same lifesaving appliance is going to result in an accident during
maintenance and drills, then this is not acceptable. Hence, greater care needs
to be taken to prevent such accidents whilst undertaking maintenance and
practicing drills.
