The Radio Call at Bay 12
Your training group at Limassol port is being assessed on VHF radio communication. You hear the following exchange on the working channel between a quay crane driver and a banksman at bay 12:
Banksman: 'Crane 4, Crane 4, banksman at bay 12. Hold the load, over.' Driver: 'Bay 12, holding. What's the problem, over?' Banksman: 'There's a lashing on the far corner, starboard side, that wasn't cut. Do not lift. Repeat, do not lift. I need two minutes to clear it.' Driver: 'Understood, load stays on the deck. Two minutes. Do you want me to slew left, over?' Banksman: 'Negative. Stay where you are and keep the spreader clear of the stack. I'll whistle when it's clear.' Driver: 'Copy. One more thing: the supervisor wants the container numbers for the last three boxes. Echo Charlie Mike Uniform four four seven two one three, and the next two are on the sheet.' Banksman: 'Say again the number, over.' Driver: 'E C M U, four four seven two one three.'
1. What exactly must the crane driver do, and what must he not do? Quote the words of the call that carry the instruction.
Read the worked answer
Must do:
- Hold the load where it is, on the deck - 'Hold the load' and, in confirmation, 'load stays on the deck'.
- Wait for the banksman's signal before any further movement - 'I'll whistle when it's clear.'
Must not do:
- Lift - 'Do not lift. Repeat, do not lift.' The repetition is deliberate: a prohibition on a movement that could kill someone is said twice.
- Slew left - 'Negative.' The driver offered a movement; the banksman refused it because a slewing load would swing over the stack.
- Let the spreader touch or cross the stack - 'keep the spreader clear of the stack.'
Reasoning point for the exam: the one instruction that is repeated (do not lift) is the one where a single mishearing would cause the accident. The one the driver proposes himself (slew left) is refused with a single word, because a 'negative' is unambiguous and needs no elaboration. Reading the call means noticing which instruction is emphasised - that tells you where the hazard is.
2. Write the container identifier as heard. If it is to be used operationally, what is missing from it, and what would you do before passing it to the supervisor?
Read the worked answer
As heard: ECMU 447213 - owner code ECMU, then the digits 447213, read letter by letter and digit by digit.
What is missing. A standard container identifier is four letters followed by seven digits: a six-digit serial number and a final check digit. Only six digits were read out, so the check digit is absent. Without it the number cannot be validated, and a number that cannot be validated is worse than no number - it will be keyed into the terminal system and may attach the wrong box to the wrong record.
What to do before passing it on: ask the driver to repeat the full identifier including the last digit ('Say again the full number, including the check digit'), read it back digit by digit, and then verify it against the loading sheet or the terminal's electronic manifest rather than accepting it on the radio alone.
Why the banksman said 'Say again the number'. This is a readback requirement, not a misunderstanding: letters were spelled phonetically (Echo Charlie Mike Uniform) but the digits were not, and digits are the part that is most easily confused on a noisy channel. Asking for a repeat costs a few seconds; a wrong container number can put a box on the wrong ship.