B1/2011M M/S ANDANTE (GIB), accident leading to death and a close-call in cargo hold on 30.9.2011

An Ordinary Seaman belonging to the crew of the M/S ANDANTE entered a closed cargo hold in the small hours on 30 September 2011. It is not known why he entered the cargo hold and he did not tell anybody about his intentions. The hold was loaded with raw timber. The OS went down through the manhole of the cargo hold to the tween-deck level where he died from the lack of oxygen. The Officer who was looking for the OS noticed the open hatch and the OS who was lying on the bottom. The Officer put on a compressed air line breathing apparatus and went down in order to help the OS. The Officer noticed, however, that he was not able to breathe properly. He tried to climb back to the deck but was not able to do it. Other crewmembers had come to the scene and assisted the Officer back to the deck. The Officer was unconscious after the lift. He revived after resuscitation.

The accident proves that adequate measures have not yet been taken in the prevention of these kinds of accidents. There is enough information and enough instructions but there are shortcomings in their implementation on the practical level.

B1/2011M Report (pdf, 0.67 Mt)