96007 Lifeboat Recovery Strops

 Lifeboat Recovery Strops
South America

REPORT No. 96007

Own vessel was anchored off a port in South America when a yacht was observed moving parallel to the vessel on the port side at a distance of about 0.25nm. The one occupant of the yacht was facing his stern concentrating on some task and not what was happening to his craft. The mainsail came broad on to the wind and the yacht heeled over to a nasty angle. He managed to right the boat but did not take down the sail or release the sheets and no sooner was it upright than it capsized on the other side. During the brief moment that the boat was upright we noted that it had absolutely no buoyancy and realised that some assistance was needed.

The emergency boat crew was mustered and the starboard lifeboat launched. In the meantime the wind and current were pushing the yacht further aft and he was beginning to appear a bit agitated. To relieve his fears, and in order to prevent him drifting too far, a line was fired with the linethrowing apparatus. The Third Officer judged it beautifully and the yachtsman was able to secure the line and arrest his drifting. He was hauled aboard the lifeboat, wrapped in a blanket and brought to our port side where the pilot ladder was rigged ready for the Port Authorities to board. After drying out he was returned ashore with the Port Authorities.

The following points were noted during this incident:

• Despite prior instructions, the lifeboat toggle painter was not secured to the forward fall to enable easy recovery. This meant that the boat had to motor well past the falls in order to pick up the painter. The same applied to the lifelines, they should have been heaved up clear of the water or placed on the fall blocks. This point highlights the benefit of having tricing lines fitted to the lifelines so that they can be heaved into the ship's side and clear of the water.
• There were six men in the boat's crew. Five would have been better, leaving one immersion suit for the casualty.
• The lifeboat skates were not removed from the boat whilst it was in the water thus restricting the speed.
• The boarding ladder was not used to assist the man in climbing into the boat.
• Despite the relatively calm conditions there was enough movement in the boat to make it very awkward for the falls to be re-engaged. This illustrated the value of using Emergency Recovery Strops which should be fitted to all emergency lifeboats.
• It was pointed out that the man overboard signal had not been sounded. The reason for this was that no-one on the ship was in danger, many people were already aware of the incident and there was time to arrange things in an orderly manner.
• Attempts to contact the Port Authorities by VHF failed as there was no response.
• Having fast turn rounds in port leaves little time to practice for such occasions and a minor incident like this proved an excellent opportunity to gain experience.

In August 1995 the MARS column highlighted some discussion on the use of lifelines and their tricing lines. This incident shows another use for these tricing lines. Whatever their original purpose was, I consider that they should be used to provide safety in whatever manner may be appropriate. In this incident the boat's crew all made use of the lifelines to hang on to whilst the boat was being lowered. Considering that the height of the embarkation deck is 21.5M above the waterline, it would have been madness not to do so. It was also considered safer to lower the boat with the crew in it rather than expect them to climb the 21.5M down the boarding ladder.
The large number of inexperienced seamen around these days and the lack of training and practical experience, makes it all the more essential for safety measures to be brought in. Recovery strops should be standard, more discussion needs to take place and an 'M' Notice should be issued.
In my experience, rescue strops are normally fitted.The Lifesaving Regulations state: "Rapid recovery of the rescue boatshall be possible when loaded with its full complement of persons and equipment.If the rescue boat is also a lifeboat, rapid recovery shall be possiblewhen loaded with its lifeboat equipment, and the approved rescue boat complementor 6 persons whichever is the greater"

You suggested in MARS 96007 that in your experience rescue strops are normally fitted. Whilst I cannot argue with your experience, in the FarEast the fitting of such strops is rare. I have conducted several surveysof new and existing ships and such strops are virtually never found fitted. It is considered important that these are fitted but retro-fitting iscostly and takes time, care and attention. I have encountered a Classification Society surveyor and shipyard managers who had never heard of rescue strops.In this area. The requirement for "rapid recovery" usually is interpreted as fitting a high speed winch, not strops. It is a fact of life that shipowners chose flags with a considerable eye on costs and some have stated categorically that, if retro-fitting of such strops with their associated lugs and proof testing proves to be expensive, they will consider changing to another flag.

I have recently received a letter from a different source on this subject which reads:

MARDEP in Hong Kong have just issued a Merchant Shipping Notice relating to the subject of recovery strops. I wonder if this was prompted by the MARS report on the subject?