MAC Tackles The Rusty Assassin - The Viking Islay Tragedy
The fourth in the 'assassin' series of confined/enclosed space incident podcasts. In the Viking Islay incident, two men died attempting to rescue a third from the anchor chain locker. The Case Of The Rusty Assassin explores what happened to them and why.
Growing concern over the past year regarding the unacceptable level of seafarer fatalities in confined and enclosed spaced has been heightened by the release of the UK's Maritime Accident Investigation Branch report into the tragedy aboard the ERRV Viking Islay in September 2007. Following that report Maritime Accident Casebook has release The Case Of The Rusty Assassin podcast as a safety awareness aid for seafarers and those who train them.
It is the fourth in the 'assassin' series of confined/enclosed space incident podcasts. In the Viking Islay incident, two men died attempting to rescue a third from the anchor chain locker. The Case Of The Rusty Assassin explores what happened to them and why.
Says Bob Couttie, administrator of Maritime Accident Casebook: "It's particularly disturbing that so many of the men aboard Viking Islay, including the master simply weren't aware of the dangers of rust depleting oxygen in an enclosed space. It should be common knowledge but isn't, three other men died in similar circumstances in ships in the UK alone between the Viking Islay tragedy and the release of the MAIB report. That's unacceptable. The training and competency management regarding confined and enclosed space entry is, too often, wholly inadequate and seafarers are paying a heavy price for companies who don't provide adequate training and don't monitor competence on board."
"What we see in this tragedy is the awful phenomenon in which rescuers themselves become victims. That's something that training and discipline must overcome. It's like a supermarket two for one promotion: death gets a discount."
A further worrying issue is that shore based managed implemented policies that deprived the men aboard Viking Islay of the equipment needed to make a safe entry and which were impractical under normal operating conditions at sea.
"Since the incident, the ship's operator has modified those policies and provided the necessary equipment but how many other seafarers out there are working with the same situation. When shore based management insists on impractical rules then seafarers will get used to taking shortcuts around not only those the rules but the system intended to keep them safe."
Like all MAC podcasts, The Case Of The Rusty Assassin reveals the circumstance around a real event through an audio podcast and online materials available for free at the Maritime Accident Casebook website, http://www.maritimeaccident.org.
As with the preceding episodes, the podcast is backed by an illustrated online transcript that seafarers can read, discuss and share with their crewmates and other seafarers. Those with training and safety responsibilities can use the broadcasts and the transcripts freely.
Maritime Accident Casebook, MAC, is a unique, free, informal educational resource, supported by donations, for seafarers and maritime trainers which seeks to empower seafarers through knowledge to keep themselves alive and their ships safe. Using audio podcasts that can be played on any computer, MP3 Player or MP3-capable cell phone and online downloadable hard-copy transcripts, MAC encourages seafarers to discuss lessons learned from real-life events and apply them to their own vessels and working practices to create a safety-conscious community.
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