1. Answer the questions.

1. When and where did the near miss incident take place?

2. What did the manufacturer’s representative ask the 4th engineer to do?

3. What happened on opening the cover bolts?

4. How do you understand the expression “to have a narrow escape”?

5. What were the main causes of the incident?

6. What preventive actions must be taken to avoid such incidents in future?

2. Decide if these statements are true or false? Correct the false ones.

1. After the survey was completed, the manufacturer's representative gave order to the fourth engineer to open up the port side unit brake assembly the next day. _________

2. The boat got stuck between the gangway and the jetty. __________

3. The job of opening up the portside unit brake assembly was officially assigned to the fourth engineer and the bosun. ________

4. No one has the right to enter the life boats or carry out any maintenance work on lifeboats and associated launching appliances.______________

5. Senior officers are exempted from any responsibility for all jobs that are being carried out by their subordinates if the subordinates are experienced enough. _________

3. Explain the following terms.

1. near miss - ____________________________________________________________________

2. class surveyor -­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ ______________________________________________________________

3. technical superintendent - _______________________________________________________

4. gangway - ____________________________________________________________________

5. jetty - _____________________________________________________________________

6. davit - ___________________________________________________________________

7. to have a narrow escape - ______________________________________________________

8. launching appliances - __________________________________________________________

9. subordinate - _______________________________________________________________

4. Match words from column a with antonyms from column b.

1. dangerous A. vague

2. complete B. slowly

3. port C. junior

4. along with D. safe

5. go down E. not enough

6. rapidly F. commence

7. breach G. starboard

8. sufficiently H. apart from

9. clear I. lift

10. senior J. execution, performance

5. Read a near miss report (see a sample in annex).Complete a near miss report covering the following items.

1. Description of the situation;

2. Possible cause of situation (root cause) and possible consequences;

3. Which preventive measures have been taken;

4. Master's decision (plan for further handling of above incident)

Case study - 9. Near Collision in Anchorage

Our vessel was anchored in a crowded anchorage in a major port, where it is customary for anchored ships to be located about two cables apart. A proper anchor watch was maintained throughout and the positions of other anchored and moving vessels in the vicinity were closely monitored.

After our ship had been in this position for a few days, an inbound vessel 'A' with pilot embarked was noticed to be heading for the anchorage at high speed. With 'A' about five cables away and closing rapidly, we tried contacting her on the VHF, but she did not respond. Port control intervened and informed us that 'A' had lost her engines. We immediately called anchor stations, readied our engine and mooring equipment and started heaving in our anchor chain.

When 'A' was just three cables away, she let go both anchors due to her headway, she continued to close with our vessel, while we tested our engine and continued to heave in our anchor cable.

When 'A' was just two cables away, her engine became operational. The pilot was able to check her advance and informed the port and all vessels in vicinity that situation was under control. Eventually, 'A' weighed both her anchors and proceeded to anchor about five cables away, escorted by the emergency tugs that had been sent by the port.

When 'A' was safely anchored, we rendered our shortened anchor cable back to the original scope and stood down the engine and deck crew.

Lessons Learned

1. Duty officer to be always alert on bridge.

2. Vessel to be in constant state of readiness for any emergencies. Realistic training should be carried out during routine drills.

3. Vessel should not be complacent and always keep a sharp lookout on passing traffic and vessels anchored near own vessel.

4.Good listening watch to be kept on VHF and, in case of any doubt about intentions of another vessel, seek clarifications after positively identifying her and inform VTS/port control.

5. In congested anchorages, always have some staff on deck with walkie-talkies, in order to mobilise resources promptly.