The ship’s officer will often check the draft during the loading and unloading process, and this job is mainly carried out by the chief officer himself, especially during the draft survey, notes Capt. Zhao, Marine Safety Manager of DASIN Singapore based shipping company.
The ship’s draft mark is very inconvenient to read due to the design, especially the midship and stern draft marks. If ship alongside, the inboard draft mark can be read from the berth, If the port does not allow crew going ashore due to security or covid-19 restrictions, then the pilot ladder or small crane must be used to check the draft, A similar approach should be taken for the seaward draft reading.
No matter what method is used, as long as the draught is read onboard, it involves outboard operations. However, a recent spate of fatal accidents has raised public concern, involving crew members reading the draft and falling overboard resulting in death.
About 4 years ago, the same accident happened onboard MV Amazoneborg. The general cargo vessel Amazoneborg was docked at Section 19 in the Port of Trois-Rivières, Quebec. The third officer was assigned to take the vessel’s draft measurements. Some time after 2210 Eastern Daylight Time, the third officer went to read the amidships draft marks on the vessel’s seaward side; he was later reported missing. Search and rescue authorities were notified of the situation and conducted a search of the area without success. The third officer’s body was recovered on 07 October 2017 near Champlain, Quebec.
After accident, vessel operator Wagenborg Shipping B.V. reiterated to its entire fleet that crews must obtain work permits when going overboard to collect amidships draft marks. Wagenborg also barred the use of Jacob’s ladders for this task and now requires pilot ladders or embarkation ladders. Other changes require crew to wear PFDs when working overboard, and assigning another crewmember to supervise the activity with a lifebuoy ready to deploy
In order to avoid similar accidents, the following safety recommendations are provided for reference:
We all know the importance of safety culture. Although there is a SMS on board and various supervision mechanisms on shore, why do accidents still happen repeatedly? Maybe there is a saying: Safety culture is caught and not taught, which can give us the answer. Only when the ship really realizes the importance of safety and understands the seriousness of the consequences, the crew can really implement various safety regulations onboard, especially the TOP4, which must play a leading role in safety, and others will naturally follow suit.
In addition, innovations in technology may make draught reading easier and safer. E.g., SGS already developed a draft survey tool which can measure the draft on deck instead of climbing down pilot ladder to check the draft.
