The Marine Safety Forum has published safety alert regarding a near miss in the 500m zone.
A PSV entered the 500m zone at an excessive speed. The excessive entry speed and direction of approach was observed by the other watch officer on the vessel and also by the crew of the installation who alerted the vessel accordingly.
Thorough investigation revealed the following:
- Senior Officer confirmed the vessel was moving at a speed in excess of normal approach speed;
- The 500m pre-entry checks were conducted further away from the installation than normal due to the vessel maintaining what was considered to be a safe distance while dodging infield traffic;
- The officer on watch had become overly fixated with course over ground and therefore failed to notice he had not yet reduced speed;
- The vessel pre-entry checklist and that of the installation had differing requirements with regard to when radars should be switched off.
Recommendations:
- All vessels must approach on a course which is offset from the Installation, Rig or other asset.
- Attention must be paid to the vessels vector line in comparison to the vessels heading to ensure this is the case.
- The preferred course of approach should be from a Drift off quadrant on a tangent course to the asset. The Vessels
approach speed must also be taken into consideration when approaching a 500m Safety Zone and be reduced accordingly
in a timely manner. - All vessels required to enter any 500m zone must adhere to the company and clients procedures and STOP approximately
200 meter’s outside the 500m zone in a drift off position prior to entering and completing all pre-entry checklists. - Applicable company and client checklists shall be addressed in full before requesting permission to enter the 500m zone.
- The practice of completing Checklists from distance and then approaching the 500m zone will no longer be acceptable.
- Once the vessel has entered any given 500m zone, the vessel is to proceed and manoeuvre at a Safe Speed with regards to
the weather conditions at all times. - As always within the 500m zone Rule 6 of the Collision Avoidance Regulations (COLREGs) apply:
“Every vessel shall at all times proceed at a safe speed so that she can take proper and effective action to avoid collision
and be stopped within a distance appropriate to the prevailing circumstances and conditions”.
These will confirm the operational status of all associated equipment and it will ensure that the vessel’s speed is appropriate immediately prior to entry. This will minimize the likelihood of an unsafe speed being inadvertently achieved on approach to a 500m zone or associated assets, hazards within that zone. Safety is always the priority and should never be compromised for speed.
Source: IMCA Safety Flash