Report: Fatal Accident Highlights Ongoing RoRo Safety Issue
The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has released its report into the death of a crew member on board the roro Laureline at Purfleet, England, on July 13, 2024.
A crew member on board the Malta-flagged Laureline was fatally injured when he was crushed between the rear of a moving trailer and the vessel’s structure. The accident happened while Laureline was alongside, loading and discharging trailers using tugs driven by shore workers under the direction of the ship’s crew.
The key safety issues identified were:
• The deceased crew member passed behind the trailer probably assuming that it was safe to do so because it had completed manoeuvring.
• The tug driver was unaware of the crew member’s position and reversed the trailer to realign it, crushing the crew member against the vessel’s structure.
• The vessel operators had instigated a new procedure for vehicle deck safety. However, there were weaknesses in its training and implementation, and it was not well understood by the crew working on the vehicle deck who routinely entered the danger zone around moving vehicles.
• The tug driver’s knowledge of danger zones and the requirement to stop when a crew member was out of sight did not align with their actual working practices.
• Supervision on the vehicle deck was ineffective, and the vessel’s management company had not provided effective assurance to confirm that the new safety procedure had been understood or fully implemented on board.
• Industry guidance on ro-ro vehicle deck operations relied heavily on the misconception that the drivers depend on marshallers to safely position their trailers and will stop their vehicle if they lose sight of their marshaller.
Safety recommendations:
The MAIB previously investigated a similar accident on board Clipper Pennant (MAIB report 16/2024). This resulted in a recommendation (2024/148) to the UK Chamber of Shipping and Port Skills and Safety Limited to develop a jointly agreed and consolidated industry Code of Practice for vehicle deck safety on roro vessels.
Recommendation 2024/148 is superseded by an updated and amended recommendation to the UK Chamber of Shipping and Port Skills and Safety Limited for the development of an industry Code of Practice considering the additional safety lessons resulting from the Laureline investigation.
Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents, Rob Loder, said: "Laureline is the latest in a series of tragic vehicle deck accidents across Europe and is a stark reminder that procedural controls alone are not sufficient to protect workers on ro-ro vehicle decks.
“The investigation into the fatality on Clipper Pennant in 2024 made a recommendation to industry to develop a unified Code of Practice for vehicle deck safety, with my predecessor stating that it was no longer tenable for the industry to continue operating in the current manner. Sadly, that remains true today and so I am reissuing that recommendation, strengthened by the lessons of this investigation. I call again for industry organisations to act decisively and deliver a unified Code of Practice without delay.”
