A crewmember on a pilot boat died after falling overboard near St. John’s Harbour, according to a Transportation Safety Board of Canada report. The incident happened shortly after a pilot transfer on Sept. 26, 2022.
The deckhand and master were alone on the 62-foot-long, 51-ton, A.P.A. No. 18 when the deckhand fell overboard at approximately 2357 Newfoundland Daylight Time. They were approximately 2 nautical miles east-southeast of the entrance to St. John’s Harbour, Newfoundland and Labrador. According to the report, after the pilot boarded the inbound vessel at 2355, the deckhand left the bow and headed toward A.P.A. No. 18’s port side. The master of the pilot boat started pulling away from the inbound vessel and did not see the deckhand fall overboard.
At 2357, the master heard yelling from the inbound vessel and looked back to see the deckhand in the water, astern of A.P.A. No. 18. The deckhand’s personal flotation device failed to inflate. The master stopped the pilot boat, exited the wheelhouse and threw a life ring into the water. A crew member of the inbound vessel also threw a life ring into the water.
The master returned to the wheelhouse, turned A.P.A. No. 18 starboard, put on the searchlight and went back to help the deckhand. Around 2359, the master saw the deckhand near the bow of the pilot boat and tried to get another life ring with a heaving line to him. As the pilot boat drifted, the master lost sight of the deckhand under the bow of the vessel.
The deckhand was located by the inbound vessel at 0002. The pilot boat moved and placed the searchlight on him. Crew members from the inbound vessel used boat hooks to get hold of the deckhand and brought him along the inbound vessel’s port- side working deck. A crew member used a pilot ladder to go over the side of the inbound vessel. They put a rope around the deckhand and three crew members pulled the deckhand out of the water through an opening in the bulwarks.
The deckhand was in the water for approximately 17 minutes. First aid was provided on the inbound vessel and an ambulance met the crew when they reached Berth 17 FP. The deckhand was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Officials said the crew of A.P.A. No. 18 used a wire and tether system, but determined that its design and installation prevented crew members from being continuously connected to the wire as they moved on the vessel. “The system design required crew members to disconnect their tether while transitioning from the side to the front of the wheelhouse, which contributed to the deckhand being untethered and subsequently falling overboard,” officials said.
In addition to the inadequacy of the tethering system, a lack of emergency preparedness contributed to the deckhand’s death. Although masters and crew members conducted person-overboard drills in the calm waters of St. John’s Harbour with a deckhand available to help, these drills showed that a single person could not maneuver the vessel and rescue an unconscious person from the water using the recovery equipment on board, officials said.
The twin-screw, aluminum-hull A.P.A. No. 18 is owned by the Atlantic Pilotage Authority, which is managed by Canship Ugland Ltd. Professional Mariner reached out to both companies for comment but did not receive a response. Officials said at the time of the deckhand’s death, a person-overboard procedure was available in Canship’s Emergency and Security Procedures Manual, but the manual was not considered essential by pilot boat crews.
“Further, the crew informally discussed amongst themselves their concerns of facilitating a rescue with one person on board the vessel.” On Oct. 5, 2022, Atlantic Pilotage Authority held a special occupational health and safety meeting – a third crew member was added to A.P.A. No. 18 and they were instructed to set the person-overboard retrieval system prior to leaving the harbor. The wire and tether system on A.P.A. No 18 and two of its sister vessels were upgraded. Lines were added to areas of the vessels, and the wires along the sides of the wheelhouses were loosened.
A two-tether system was implemented, according to officials.
Canship installed a safety rail and an electric winch on A.P.A. No. 18. Shepherd hooks were replaced with lighter, extendable hooks. Outside lighting and person-overboard lighting was improved on the pilot boat. Canship also procured person-overboard danbuoys for all of their pilot boats as an additional means of flotation in emergencies.
In Canada, falling overboard is one of the leading causes of death in the marine industry, with hypothermia posing an enormous risk.