Crew Member Dies Due to Heavy Drinking and Unsafe Gangway on Ship
A crew member on the tall ship Pelican of London lost his life in 2023 after heavy drinking and poor safety measures on board. The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) recently released a report about the accident, which highlighted key factors that led to the tragic event.
What Happened?
In September 2023, Pelican of London was docked at the Sharpness shipyard in Bristol for maintenance. A new crew member, a 64-year-old relief cook, joined the ship on September 28 to help out while the regular cook went on shore leave. This relief cook, a professional seafarer, spent several evenings drinking heavily with other crew members.
On October 2, he went to a bar with his shipmates. According to the MAIB report, the cook drank at least nine double whiskies—equal to 18 shots—within three hours. After leaving the bar alone at 10:50 PM, he returned to the ship.
The Accident
The ship had a gangway (a type of bridge) connecting it to the shore. As the relief cook walked up the gangway, CCTV footage showed him losing balance and falling into the water at 11:07 PM. The ship’s chief engineer heard the noise of his fall but couldn’t see anything and went back to bed, unaware of what had happened.
The next morning, when the cook didn’t show up for breakfast, the crew realized something was wrong. After checking CCTV footage from the port, they discovered the accident. His body was found in the water at 2 PM.
Cause of Death
The cook’s postmortem results showed that he had a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.19%, which is very high—about the same as drinking eight beers. The cold water likely caused him to go into shock and drown quickly after falling in.
Safety Failures
The investigation found that the gangway wasn’t safe. The rope meant to keep people from falling was weighed down by a heavy cable, leaving a dangerous gap. The safety net under the gangway was not set up correctly and would have acted like a slide into the water rather than preventing falls. Worse, there were no proper instructions for setting up the gangway, and the crew didn’t know that the safety net was meant to protect people, not just catch objects.
According to the report, poor practices and unsafe gangway rigging had been passed down over time without question, putting everyone using the gangway at risk.
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Drinking Policies and Lack of Intervention
The Pelican of London had a safety manual that said crew members should drink “in moderation” and not drink before duty periods. However, the cook had consumed so much alcohol that he would have been almost twice the legal alcohol limit by the time his shift began the next morning.
The MAIB pointed out that while there were signs that the cook had a problem with alcohol, no one took action. The policies did not give clear guidance on how to handle excessive drinking or how crew members should help each other in such situations.
What’s Changed?
Following MAIB’s recommendations, the ship’s operators made significant changes. These included:
- Stricter rules about alcohol use
- Better training materials for safety
- Clearer standards for setting up gangways and safety nets
- New emergency-response procedures
These changes aim to prevent another tragedy like this from happening again.