Seized On-Load Release Hook and Deteriorated Falls: Do We Lower the Boat?
MV Kestrel Bay, a 12-year-old general cargo ship, is alongside with the quarterly abandon-ship drill scheduled for 14:00. During the pre-drill inspection the chief officer reports four findings on the starboard davit-launched lifeboat: the on-load release handle's safety pin is missing and the handle has been secured with seizing wire; after the last recovery the hook indicator still shows "not fully reset"; both falls show broken wires near the thimbles, with six broken wires in one lay length on the port fall plus heavy corrosion; and the fall-renewal date on the certificate is four years and ten months ago. The third officer proposes lowering the boat to the embarkation deck with the two new ratings aboard to "exercise the hook" so the drill record can be signed, arguing the boat will be waterborne before anything is released. The master is ashore and uncontactable for three hours.
1. Should the boat be lowered with the two ratings aboard? State your decision and the technical reasoning behind it.
Read the worked answer
Decision: no. The boat is placed out of use and the launch is cancelled.
- The safety pin is not cosmetic. It is the secondary locking device that stops the release handle being moved inadvertently. Seizing wire is an unapproved modification: it cannot be relied on to hold the handle against the weight of the boat and its full complement, and it hides the fact that the primary/secondary lock geometry is compromised.
- "Not fully reset" means the hook is not positively engaged. On-load release gear in that condition can trip when the load comes on - precisely at the moment the boat becomes waterborne or the falls take up. That is the classic mechanism by which people are killed in drills, not in abandonments.
- The proposed compromise satisfies nobody. A boat at the embarkation deck is still suspended on the falls, still hooked on, and still loaded with two inexperienced ratings with no one stationed at the hook. Maker's procedures require release gear operation under controlled conditions with the boat waterborne, the falls slack and no personnel in the danger area - none of which is achievable here.
- The falls independently forbid the lift. Broken wires at the thimble and heavy corrosion are rejection criteria, and the falls are within two months of the five-year renewal limit. The lowering appliance is not fit to carry a load at all.
Immediate actions: stop the evolution, secure the release handle with the correct manufacturer's pin, tag and lock the boat out of use, inform the master, and record the defect and the reason the launch was not held.
2. What must happen before this lifeboat is returned to service, and who is responsible for each step?
Read the worked answer
Treat it as three separate defects with three separate owners.
1. Release gear (competent person plus the chief officer). Strip and examine the hook assembly against the maker's manual; fit a genuine safety pin; find out why it seized (typically paint, lack of lubrication, or a distorted handle) and correct the cause rather than the symptom. Then carry out the operational test in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions and MSC.1/Circ.1206 guidance - boat waterborne, falls slack, no personnel aboard or in the danger zone - with the result witnessed and recorded. The five-yearly thorough examination and dynamic test of the release gear must also be confirmed as current.
2. Falls (chief officer, with class/flag notification as required). Renew both falls. Do not "turn end for end" as a fix: renewal is due on age and is already triggered by the broken wires and corrosion. New falls need their certificates on board, correct re-termination, and a lowering test with the boat empty before anyone rides it.
3. Records and crew (master). Log the defect, the corrective action and the new certificate details; raise a planned-maintenance job to prevent recurrence; brief all assigned boat crew on the fault and the repaired arrangement before the next drill. If a port state control inspection is likely, expect the missing pin, the wire and the falls to be raised - being able to produce the defect report and repair record is what converts a detention into an observation.
3. Can an abandon-ship drill still be held today, and what must the record show?
Read the worked answer
Yes - an abandon-ship drill can and should still be held, but it must not be dressed up as a launch drill.
What can be done: general alarm and muster, roll call and head count, briefing on the order to abandon ship, donning and inspection of immersion suits and lifejackets, demonstration of the release gear using the instructional manual or mock-up, briefing on the other lifeboat and on davit-launched liferafts, and a walk-round of the equipment. All of that is valuable training that does not depend on the defective boat.
What must not be done: lowering the boat, riding it down, or signing the entry as "lifeboat launched and manoeuvred" when it was not. A false entry is a far more serious matter than a missed drill - it removes the ship's protection if an incident follows and it is a criminal or disciplinary exposure for the signatory.
What the record must show: date and time, personnel mustered, the training actually delivered, the specific reason the launch element could not be completed (release gear defect and falls condition, with the defect report reference), the corrective actions and target date, and confirmation that the master was informed. The three-monthly launching and manoeuvring requirement remains outstanding, so the launch must be given the first safe opportunity after repair - in port, in sheltered water, or as soon as the flag administration's arrangements permit - and the interval tracked from the last genuine launch.