97009 Passenger Overloading

Passenger Overloading
Report No. 97009

I recently undertook a voyage on a small ferry as the catamaran had beencancelled due to rough seas. Once on board I asked the Master to see hisPassenger Safety Certificate. He didn't know what I was talking about soI asked him about lifesaving appliances. He assured me that he had somelifejackets and flotation devices. The Coast Guard permits him to carry400 passengers on a 200 grt landing craft, but the Master told me that heregularly carries 1,000 passengers and that his vessel is quite safe asit has not sunk yet!

The vessel appeared to be in a sorry state, with no safety notices orindication of any lifejackets. There were a couple of hundred passengers,mostly confined to the small lounge aft of the bridge, and about twentyincluding myself, on the bridge. This was the place that I considered thesafest as I could see what was going on. We sailed with a three degreestarboard list and I suggested to the Master that we secure the bow rampproperly and lash the vehicles on deck. I was assured that it was not necessaryas it was only force 6. The ramp was secured only by a 1 tonne chain blockand after one hour of pitching the chain block parted and the ramp dropped. At the time we were rolling between four degrees to port and 25 degreesto starboard, pitching moderately and all the vehicles had shifted to starboard.

The vessel then hove to in order to recover the ramp. Again, I suggestedthat the ramp be properly secured, this time using turnbuckles; however,only one turnbuckle could be produced and the Master did not consider itnecessary to tighten it up. The ramp was raised by another 1 tonne chainblock and further secured by wrapping a mooring line around it. This arrangementheld the ramp for another two hours until the mooring line and chain blockparted and the ramp came crashing down. The ramp was again retrieved afterhaving to heave to again and we finally reached our destination, it hadtaken us 4 hours to cover a total distance of 22 miles.

Fortunately, according to the local newspaper, a Bill has been filedto make passenger overloading a very serious offence. The article states"ship company officials, officers and crew members, officers and menof the Coast Guard and other Government Agencies who are involved in authorisingthe loading of passengers more than the authorised capacity of the vessel,upon being found guilty, be meted the penalty equivalent to that imposedfor the commission of heinous crimes". The Bill seeks the impositionof a minimum 20 year prison term for operators, ship captains and crew membersfound to have connived to carry excess passengers. Likewise, the Bill requiresshipowners to compensate the family of each victim, even without a judicialorder. To serve as a preventative measure, Shipowners should be requiredto display bill boards on the load and weight capacity of the ship in conspicuousplaces within the vessel. Passengers who report such incidents will beentitled to a reward to be paid by the company. "The safety of thepassengers is the main consideration for building strong and sturdy shipsand providing passengers with lifejackets and lifeboats but the greed andinconsiderate attitude of the owners inevitably leads to their untimelydeaths. If a man duly licensed to possess a fire arm outside his residencecan be held liable for committing a crime with the use of his gun, so shallthe owners and officers of a shipping company be held equally responsibleand liable for putting in jeopardy and endangering the lives and limbs ofinnocent passengers."