200611 Hatch stoppers

11 Jan 2006 MARS

 

It is well known that it is very dangerous to work on or near hatch covers when they are partly opened. They should be fully opened and hatch-cover stoppers should be put in place before the crew starts work.

However when we have to do some work on hatch covers at sea as part of the hold cleaning process, we sometimes have to put our hand between the hatch coaming and the partly opened hatch cover. If the hydraulic pile line bursts at the wrong time, the person can get badly injured. On all my ships I get some wooden stoppers made; at least by using these the hatch cover will not close fully and hopefully prevent the injury to crew.

What I would like to propose is that all hatch-cover manufacturers must also make some metal hatch stoppers which are screwed tight on hatch trackway and act as stoppers when the hatch is in the partly opened condition (I am very well aware that all manufacturers mention in the manual that hatches should be fully opened or fully shut, but practically it's not possible, as explained above). Fabricating them on the ship is not usually feasible. Hopefully this will save some crew from getting badly hurt.