Leg injury while mooring

During unmooring operations, a crew person got caught in the bight of a messenger line mooring rope and was injured. The incident occurred when a vessel was being prepared for departure. The worker was on the mooring deck, using a messenger line around the mooring rope to guide it onto a winch drum. Another worker was operating the winch remotely, with limited visibility of the first worker’s position near the drum. The messenger line suddenly snagged under the mooring rope and became wound onto the winch drum itself. Realising what had happened the injured person let go of the messenger line, but was unaware that it had formed a bight around their right leg. As the bight tightened, the injured person was pulled towards the winch drum and then dragged over it. The winch operator promptly stopped the winch. The injured person was disentangled from the messenger line and immediately taken ashore for medical treatment for a broken shin bone and other leg injuries.

To view this IMCA safety alert in full, click the 'Download Alert' button above and refer to section 5 of the document.