ACCIDENTS ASSOCIATED WITH MARIINE ENVIRONMENT

RANJEET RAJ

Accidents associated with the marine environments

Crossing surf

Bad weather

Poor visibilityMajor storms

Crossing surf• Surf crossing has been practiced

all over the world since prehistoric times and continued after motorization. Today it takes place wherever natural or artificial harbours and smaller shelters are rare, and beaches are low and physically accessible to beachable craft.

• best-known examples of artisanal beachable fishing craft are sailing rafts such as the Brazilian janghadas and Indian kattumarams, African canoes, Caribbean pirogues and the outrigger canoes of Oceania.

Bad weather1. Poor visibility In dense fog, small fishing craft are common

victims of collision with large vessels. Small boats are rarely equipped with radars, radar reflectors or other means of detection, neither are they able to signal their presence to large vessels.

• Poor visibility caused by, for example, haze overlying the horizon and hiding coastal orientation markers, may result in fishermen losing their way, running ashore or grounding

fog

2. Major Storms• Small craft - hurricanes, cyclones, typhoons and tsunamis.• Safety aspects: safety of the ship safety of crew safety of cargo

Symptoms of storm • Sea snake forming coiled structure

and appear as round ball on the surface.

• Water bubbles on the surface.• White clouds seen below the hills.• Huge waves in the ocean

accompanied by wind or rain.• Appearance of large number of sea

birds.• Sometimes there might be strong

thunder and lightning.

Accidents associated with Navigation

Loss of power at sea

Loss of way

Grounding & Running ashore

Collision

Fire on board

This is a major cause of accidents. Many small fishing boats are powered by an outboard motor and do not carry either a spare engine or sailing rig.

Accidents associated with navigation1.Loss of power at sea

a motorized craft fishermen tend to travel greater distances offshore, putting them at risk if the engine fails. Moreover, although they used to use sails, they have stopped taking them to sea and the younger ones are not even trained in their emergency use and do not know what to do with them.

2. Loss of wayLoss of way in small fishing craft is dangerous, because in most cases they do not carry large amounts of fuel, food or drinking water. In normal conditions, experienced artisanal fishermen rarely lose their way at sea, in spite of sailing without navigation instruments, often even without a magnetic compass.Dense fog, cloudy nights combined with an unusual wind direction or abnormal lack of wind, etc., may bring about temporary or even fatal loss of way.Because of current

3.Grounding and running ashore

• Severe grounding applies extreme loads upon ship structures. In less severe accidents, it might result only in damage to the hull; however, in most serious accidents, it might lead to hull breaches, cargo spills, total loss of the vessel, and, in the worst cases, human casualties.

Causes• Current• Darkness• Tide• Visibility• Waves• Wind• Depth of waterway• Geometry of waterway• Age of vessel• Type of vessel• Speed• Human & organizational factors

Ship grounding can be two types;1.Soft grounding2.Wallop grounding

A soft grounding does not leads to adverse effects on a ship. But this doesn't mean it has to be completely neglected. Proper inspection needs to be made as soon as the ship reaches the nearest port. In case there is a doubt about the condition of the ship, it should be prevented from sailing till a thorough inspection is not carried out by the experts or a classification society.

Wallop grounding can leads to heavy damage to the hull and submerged part of the ship. This might leads to serious cracks in the ship structure, resulting in water ingress followed by serious damage of the ships structural integrity and using major instability.

First Action to be taken:• When the vessel goes aground the

engine should be stopped immediately• The skipper first action on grounding

should be: a) Sound the general alarm. b) Exhibit the appropriate signals. c) Make ready LSA. d) Send the chief engineer to

check damage. e) Alert the owner and the

nearest insurance agency.

Small fishing vessels are often involved in collisions, especially in areas of heavy traffic of merchant shipping. Collisions and bizarre accidents involving submarines fouling trawling gear sometimes end in capsize sinkings and fatalities. Big merchant or naval vessels may cut a fishing boat in two and carry on without even being aware of it.

4. Collisions

Collision with another vessel

Collision with a fixed object

Failure to keep proper lookout

Accidents

• Proper use of a “lookout”

• Knowledge of “Rules of the Road”

• Knowledge of proper boat lighting

• Knowledge of “Aids to Navigation”

Most collisions could be avoided by:

5.fire on boardFire mainly because of ……….

Leakage of gas( cooking gas)Electric sparkSmokingLeaking of fuelLightning