Incorrect terminations can lead to marine casualties

The Coast Guard Office of Investigations and Analysis has released Change 1 to Marine Safety Alert 04-22, to addresses the importance of verifying the correct arrangement of handholds in embarkation gate arrangements aboard merchant vessels.

This Safety Alert addresses the importance of verifying the correct arrangement of handholds in embarkation gate arrangements aboard merchant vessels. The Coast Guard is currently investigating a casualty involving a fall from a pilot ladder where the handholds in the gate arrangement aboard the vessel terminated without being rigidly secured to the vessel’s structure. This termination left a gap in the handholds at the transition point at the head of the pilot ladder, where an embarking person might reach to pull themselves onto the vessel.

The full updated safety alert is available on the Coast Guard Office of Investigations and Analysis Safety Alert webpage.

This Safety Alert is provided for informational purposes only and does not relieve any domestic or international safety, operational, or material requirements. Developed by the Coast Guard Sector New York Investigations Division, and distributed by the Office of Investigations and Analysis. Please address questions to HQS-SMB-CG-INV@uscg.mil.

This blog is not a replacement or substitute for the formal posting of regulations and updates or existing processes for receiving formal feedback of the same. Links provided on this blog will direct the reader to official publications, such as the Federal Register, Homeport and the Code of Federal Regulations. These publications remain the official source for regulatory information published by the Coast Guard.