Five crew died in a lifeboat drill when the boat fell twenty metres.
On 10 February 2013, during a routine lifeboat drill on the cruise ship Thomson Majesty in the port of Santa Cruz de La Palma, a lifeboat with eight crew inside fell into the sea when a fall wire parted. Five crew died and three were injured.
Words in this case
- fall (wire)
- The wire rope that lowers and hoists a lifeboat.
- davit
- The arm that carries the lifeboat over the side.
- on-load release hook
- A hook that can release the boat while it still carries its weight.
- to hoist
- To lift up.
- drill
- A practice of an emergency procedure.
More words like these in the glossary and in listening practice.
What happened
The drill was a normal one: lower a lifeboat with crew on board, then hoist it back. During the hoisting the wire fall at one end parted. The boat dropped end first from about 20 metres, turned over and landed upside down in the water with the crew inside.
Five men drowned or died of their injuries; three survived. The ship was alongside in port, in calm conditions, with rescue help minutes away. It made no difference.
Malta, the flag state, investigated. The wire fall had failed; the report examined the condition of the wire, its maintenance and inspection, and the practice of hoisting a boat with the crew inside. Lifeboat drill accidents are a known killer: for years more seafarers were hurt in drills than in real abandonments.
Why it happened
- A wire fall parted under load while the boat was being hoisted.
- Eight people were in the boat while it hung on the falls, so the failure of one wire became a fall of twenty metres.
- The condition and maintenance of the fall wires and the release gear are the first question in every lifeboat accident.
What to remember on board
- Falls and release gear are inspected, tested and renewed to the maker's schedule and SOLAS III/20; the record is real, not a signature.
- Lower and hoist without crew in the boat where the drill and the equipment allow; put people in at the embarkation deck or in the water.
- On-load release hooks are operated only by trained crew who understand the safety pin and the reset.
- A drill is a real operation with real loads: helmets, lifejackets, a briefing and nobody in a hurry.
What changed afterwards
The IMO tightened the requirements for lifeboat release and retrieval systems and for the maintenance and testing of launching appliances, and issued guidance on safe drills without crew in the boat.
Three questions
The kind of questions a knowledge test asks about this case. Keys 1 to 4 answer, Enter goes on.
Read more
Source: Safety investigation report, lifeboat accident on board Thomson Majesty, Santa Cruz de La Palma, 10 February 2013, Marine Safety Investigation Unit, Malta.
On this site: Lifeboat ยท Launching and embarkation.
Plain-English summary of an official investigation report. Facts and findings are the investigators'; the wording is ours. Nothing here is legal advice or a substitute for the report itself.