Gazing at MARS

In-Depth 1 Sep 2016 by WCN Editorial

The Nautical Institute has drawn attention to its recent MARS (The Mariners’ Alerting and Reporting Scheme) report, highlighting how poor maintenance procedures on a ro-pax ferry caused a serious accident, although there were no fatalities.

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The ferry had docked and was about to disembark vehicles from a mezzanine deck. The second mate started to lower the deck to its ramped position when there was a loud bang and one side fell about 2m to the main deck.

Several passengers in cars suffered shock, whiplash and other injuries, and a crewman was knocked unconscious as he was thrown to the deck. The root cause was failure to maintain steel wire lifting ropes, one of which had parted. The ropes had not been greased or lubricated for years. Maintenance roles and responsibilities had become confused and record-keeping was poor. “The incident emphasises that maintenance of all equipment is not optional; it is essential if incidents and injuries are to be avoided,” said the Nautical Institute.

MARS is a confidential reporting system run by the Nautical Institute to allow full reporting of accidents (and near misses) without fear of identification or litigation. As a free service to the industry, MARS reports also regularly comprise alerts condensed from official industry sources, so that issues resulting from recent incidents can be efficiently relayed to the seamen on board. With access to the internet from vessels becoming more affordable, the MARS database is considered by the Institute to be a valuable risk assessment, work planning and loss prevention tool and training aid for crew and management.

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This complete item is approximately 300 words in length, and appeared in the September 2016 issue of WorldCargo News, on page 45. To access this issue download the PDF here.