What happened?
Four fishers were out at sea when one of them fell overboard. Without thinking, a second fisher jumped into the water to help his mate, but he also found himself struggling to get back on the boat. The third fisher, and then the skipper jumped in to try to help, but now all four men were in the water with no one onboard the vessel controlling it. Unfortunately, the vessel had been left idling and whilst all fishers were in the water, it took off by itself. After hours of swimming the vessel finally ran out of fuel and all four fishers were able to climb back onboard to safety.
The crew learned the importance of doing regular man overboard drills and assigning each person a job if it happened. Wherever possible, no further people should enter the water and the boat should be equipped with appropriate safety equipment such as a life ring and lifejackets (which should be worn at all times on a vessel, even when it’s calm). This was a close call for these four fishers, and we don’t want others finding themselves in the same situation!
Tips and Tools
Vessels should ensure that all crew are familiar with the “man overboard” prevention and response code of practice. Emergency drill protocols for “man overboard” should be implemented and practised regularly. Vessels should promote a culture of communication, safety and accountability around incidents through regular reporting and investigations. Incident reports for commercial vessels must be submitted to AMSA within 72 hours. Recreational vessels should be aware of their relevant state or territory maritime safety agency, to report any incidents (such as man overboard).
Education around the importance of lifejackets, regardless of the time spent on deck, should be implemented during onboarding, and crew should be educated on the types of lifejackets available to them for use in different scenarios. Workshops through AMSA are available. Vessels should use the AMSA Life Jacket Checklist.
Resources:
- Code of practice – Man overboard prevention and response
- AMSA Incident report
- Marine safety agencies
- MSA Life Jacket Risk Assessment workshops
- AMSA Life Jacket Checklist
- AMSA Types of life jackets