During ro-ro cargo loading operations, a crew member acting as banksman suffered fatal crush injuries after becoming trapped between a semi-trailer and part of the ship's structure. the crew member was standing in an unsafe area, and the driver positioning the semi-trailer had lost sight of the crew member at the time of the incident.
The vessel was a freight-only ro-ro cargo vessel carrying unaccompanied semi-trailers. Cargo operations were performed using shoreside tractor units, which drove on board, collected or delivered semi-trailers, and pushed them into marked stowage spaces on the vehicle decks. This activity was controlled by the ship’s crew, with an experienced crew member designated as ‘banksman’ providing manoeuvring instructions to the shoreside drivers.
The vessel had several vehicle decks, including the upper vehicle deck where the accident occurred. The forward end of that deck was located beneath the accommodation and included a row of stowage spaces (Numbered 17-21 in Figure 3) enclosed on three sides by bulkheads and adjacent ship structure. These forward corner spaces presented a challenge because there were limited safe areas for a banksman to stand clear of a moving semi-trailer while still maintaining visual contact with the tractor unit driver.
Prior to the incident, some near misses involving the unsafe positioning of personnel had been formally reported to the ship operator. This had resulted in a fleet wide ‘Safety Flash’, along with recommended preventative measures as identified by the Designated Person Ashore. However, follow-up and close-out of the introduction of the identified measures was not completed.
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