Lost time injury (LTI): Hand severed during mooring operations

  • Safety Flash
  • Published on 8 July 2014
  • Generated on 3 April 2025
  • IMCA SF 11/14
  • 2 minute read

An incident has come to IMCA’s attention in which a crewman lost his right hand during mooring operations.

What happened?

The incident occurred when a service vessel was moving floating hoses away from an incoming tanker (a ‘routine’ procedure) using soft ‘pick up ropes’ attached to each hose. members of the deck crew and Bosun picked up and secured the first pick up rope. They had difficulty in securing the second hose. The Chief Mate (the injured party) came down from bridge and physically took over the job. He held the pick-up rope close to the ‘panama eye’ of the vessel with his arm through the eye of the rope. A sudden sea swell tightened the rope. His right hand was caught against the hard edge of the panama eye, and severed.

Elbow linked through pick up rope soft eye

Elbow linked through pick up rope soft eye

Pick-up rope (re-enactment)

Pick-up rope (re-enactment)

Investigation identified the following root causes:

  • The Chief Mate ‘stepping down’ to crew task without preparation.
  • A potential high consequence hazard was not recognised.
  • The injured person did not follow accepted practice of seamanship for handling mooring lines.
  • Others who might have challenged him and stopped the job were hindered by cultural norms regarding challenges to formal lines of authority.

Members are reminded to encourage personnel to look after their hands and arms. IMCA produces a range of safety promotional material on hand and arm safety, as well as a poster on mooring safety:

Latest Safety Flashes:

Incidents occurring during decommissioning

IMCA has put together a summary of incidents relating to decommissioning.

Read more
LTI: rope under tension moved and hit person’s hand

A member of the crew suffered a serious hand injury when struck by a rope under tension.

Read more
Injuries during lifting operations

A member reports two separate lifting activities involving failure of lifting equipment and resulting in minor injuries to nearby personnel.

Read more
Finger injury during manual handling

An IMCA’s members’ utilities supplier in the United States reports a serious finger injury during manual handling

Read more
Acetylene gas explosion

There was a small explosion and fire when crew were working on an oxy-acetylene system.

Read more

IMCA Safety Flashes summarise key safety matters and incidents, allowing lessons to be more easily learnt for the benefit of the entire offshore industry.

The effectiveness of the IMCA Safety Flash system depends on the industry sharing information and so avoiding repeat incidents. Incidents are classified according to IOGP's Life Saving Rules.

All information is anonymised or sanitised, as appropriate, and warnings for graphic content included where possible.

IMCA makes every effort to ensure both the accuracy and reliability of the information shared, but is not be liable for any guidance and/or recommendation and/or statement herein contained.

The information contained in this document does not fulfil or replace any individual's or Member's legal, regulatory or other duties or obligations in respect of their operations. Individuals and Members remain solely responsible for the safe, lawful and proper conduct of their operations.

Share your safety incidents with IMCA online. Sign-up to receive Safety Flashes straight to your email.