A berthing operation, involving a rope that surged and ran outboard, caused the death of a motorman.
A ro-ro cargo ship was preparing to sail when one of its stern lines was let go and suddenly tightened.
A harbour tug fitted with a Voith Schneider propulsion unit was one of two tugs in attendance and was standing-by the port quarter waiting to be made fast.
The ship’s after mooring party consisted of the third officer, two able seamen, a cadet and a motorman. This was the first time the motorman had been tasked to assist in the unmooring operations. The first mooring line to be let go was from the offshore port quarter. There was a delay to heaving it in as the winch gearing system was changed to the drum barrel. Before it could be recovered it was sucked into the port propulsion unit.
The rope surged and then ran outboard at great speed. The third officer and one of the able seamen saw what was happening and shouted to let the rope go and for people to get out of the way. Reacting instinctively, everyone in the mooring party, except the motorman, took cover. The motorman attempted to stop the rope with his foot and lost his balance. As he was picking himself up, the rope came off its storage reel and struck him. It threw him against a short flight of steps and, despite medical assistance, he died at the scene of the accident.
Lessons
– As with nearly every tragic accident, this one was caused by a series of unconnected events that came together in a certain sequence to generate the circumstances that occurred. – It was a perfectly normal departure. The bridge controls were set at zero, but the turning variable pitch propellers were creating turbulence astern and a degree of stern wash. This would have been normal, but because there was a delay to heaving in the stern rope, the wash caused the bight to sweep away from the quay and into a large arc towards the tug. – Had it been known there was likely to be a delay to heaving in the stern rope, the shore riggers could have been told to keep the eye in hand before releasing it.
Source – UKMAIB
The Deep Draft 
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