Ocean Ambassador – Maritime Accident Casebook

Ocean Ambassador Lifeboat Incident: Poor change management/training, no FPD, led to deaths

Accident, Accident report, davit-launched, lifeboat, lifeboat accidents, lifeboat safety Comments Off

Mar 052011

Ocean Ambassador's Schatt-Harding MCN 28-60 after the accident, an FPD and change management might have saved lives

Lack of familiarity and training, combined with the abence of a fall preventer led to the deaths of two seafarers and serious injuries to two other when a lifevoat fell 30 metres from its recently-installed on-load release hook during a drill aboard the Marshall Islands-flagged drilling rig Ocean Ambassador says the Brazilian Maritime Authority. The incident has generated considerable interest due to the involvement of the Triple 5 hook made by Survival Systems International hih has a good safety record.

The lifeboat fell because the Triple 5 hook had not been properly adjusted after installation, leaving a gap through which the suspension ring of the lifeboat falls passed during the incident. No-one one Ocean Ambassdor had been been given training regarding the Triple 5 hook or its characteristics, no maintenance manual was onboard Ocean Ambassador and none had been requested. Continue reading »

Triple 5 Hook To Be Cleared In Ocean Ambassador Lifeboat Tragedy

Accident, Accident report, davit-launched, lifeboat, lifeboat accidents, lifeboat safety, on-load Comments Off

Jan 072011

SASI's Triple 5 hook has a good safety record

Maritime Accident Casebook understands that a forthcoming report on the Ocean Ambassador lifeboat tragedy will conclude that the Survival Systems International Triple 5 on-load release hook fitted to the lifeboat was not responsible.

Onload release hooks are regarded as a major contributor to lifeboat accidents. The Ocean Ambassador tragedy, in which two people were killed and two seriously injured when a lifeboat fell while being recovered aboard the semisubmersible, has attracted attention throughout the industry because of the long positive safety record of the Triple 5 hook.

The official report into the incident was finalised in December 2010 and is currently being reviewed and prepared for translation in order to be released to the maritime community.

Maritime Accident Casebook will provide details of the report once it has been formally released.

davit-launched, lifeboat, lifeboat accidents, lifeboat safety Comments Off

Jul 192010

SASI's Triple 5 hook has a good safety record

Brazil’s Maritime Casualty Investigation Department of the Brazilian Navy’s Directorate of Ports and Coasts is awaiting a report on a Triple 5 lifeboat release mechanism to complete its investigation into the release of a lifeboat from the semisubmersible drilling rig Ocean Ambassador.

Two died and two others were seriously injured when a twin-fall lifeboat from the Diamond Offshore-owned, OGX-leased rig was being recovered from the sea after training and maintenance operations. A Triple 5 hook from the lifeboat is being examined by the manufacturer, Survival Systems International.

The Triple 5 hook is based on an early design by the same company with a record of 25 years without an accident. It is designed to fail-to-safe under load.

The report, expected in Q3 2010 is expected to address the issue of lifeboat recovery with crew aboard, which frequently results in deaths and injuries when safety-critical hoisting equipment fails.

Another Two Lifeboat Deaths

Accident, lifeboat, lifeboat accidents, lifeboat safety 1 Response »

May 202010

Blogger Alexandre da Rocha reports that two crew from the oil rig Ocean Ambassador died and another were two injured after their lifeboat fell into the sea in the Campos Basin.

The accident was first reported by the Brazilian company OGX. Ocean Ambassador is owned by Diamond Offshore and operated by Brasdril, a Brazilian company.

According to OGX, the accident happened while the lifeboat was being hoisted back to the platform after a drill.

Says Alexandre “This should be more than enough for any sensible safety management system to consider the risk ‘intolerable’ and prevent anyone from being on board.”