This alert follows an incident in which a rope became entangled with a vessel’s propeller during mooring, highlighting critical risks in mooring rope safety and the consequences of complacency.
During mooring operations, a shoreside worker was securing an after-spring line to a Quick Release Mooring Hook (QRMH) on a dolphin platform when slack rope remained near the propeller.
The line became entangled, creating over-tension as it was already fastened. The platform bent under the propeller’s force until the line parted and snapped back, causing the operator to fall 1.8 metres to a lower deck.
Safety control
Although fall protection was in place, the worker was kneeling and slipped through a gap in the barrier, sustaining only minor scratches.
IMCA identified several contributing factors, including residual rope slack, unexpected propeller load, reduced operator stability, insufficient barrier height for kneeling positions, and gaps in communication between the pilot and mooring crew.
The most fundamental piece of safety advice, IMCA emphasised, is to never allow mooring lines to remain slack or close to the propeller.
IMCA stressed that effective marine safety controls require clear coordination between bridge teams, pilots and mooring personnel, strict management of rope positioning, and consistent avoidance of snap-back zones.
The organisation also urged personnel to use ’Stop Work Authority’ where situational awareness is compromised.
IMCA said that in order to mitigate risk against these types of incident, improvements need to be made to fall-protection design to account for kneeling positions and reinforced training needs to be given focused on safe body positioning and balance during line handling.
