MCA has published Safety Flash 22/25

Click here to download the IMCA Safety Flash 23/25.

Man overboard in port: Seaman falls from quay access ladder

The incident occurred while a crane was being used to unload a smaller waste container on the vessel to a larger one on the quay. To access the quay from the vessel, it was necessary to use a fixed ladder on the wall of the quay. This was in poor condition, and was missing a step halfway up. While the crew member was climbing up the ladder, the crew member was distracted by movement of the vessel’s mooring lines, just at the point of placing a foot where the missing step should have been. The crew member lost balance, fell onto the gunwale, and then into the water. There was an immediate activation of the vessel’s emergency response procedure, and the crew member was safely recovered without serious injury.

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LTI: Leg injury while using hand-held grinder

A worker suffered a leg injury whilst using a hand-held grinder. The incident occurred when the worker was cutting wood with a wood-cutting disc installed. On the third cut, the grinder slipped from his hand, fell to the floor, and bounced back, hitting his right calf. The worker’s supervisor was able to quickly switch off the power, and the worker was taken to the hospital for treatment.

This incident caused a deep cut about 10 cm long, damaging muscle and tendon, and fracturing the bone, which required surgery and a metal pin.

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Dropped object – Bailout cylinder inside diving bell

While conducting routine bell checks, a bailout set that had not been correctly secured slipped from its stowed position inside the bell. As the bellman positioned himself to open the bell door in preparation for diver entry, he inadvertently leaned against the unsecured bailout set, causing it to slide through the bell door opening and fall approximately 2.5 metres, striking the Transfer Under Pressure (TUP) door below. No-one was injured. The bailout cylinder was damaged.

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BSEE: Anchor-handling causes damage to subsea equipment and triggers gas release

The United States Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has published Safety Alert 508 on 30 September 2025, relating to a gas-release incident involving a dive support vessel (DSV) that was marking a pipeline ahead of a jack-up rig subsea well recompletion. The DSV was recovering two bow anchors from the seafloor.

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Two Walk-to-Work gangway incidents

On 18 August, an SOV was engaged in W2W transfers on an Offshore Wind Farm. While initiating the connection with a Transition Piece (TP), the gangway slipped off the TP and slewed uncontrolled to the stern until it collided with the vessel crane. During the slew the operator tried to stop the movement by pressing the emergency stop button without effect. Following the collision the gangway went into auto-retraction mode. All W2W operations were stopped, and the gangway manufacturer was contacted for investigation and damage assessment. There were no injuries. Whilst the crane itself was undamaged, the gangway was damaged. This was considered a high potential incident.

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