Lifeboat Drill Went Wrong Injuring 2 Partly Due To Corroded Tools Safety Board Findings

The men were inside the lifeboat on the cargo ship Blue Bosporus for exercise on December 1, 2020. The lifeboat was suddenly cut off from the ship around 1:15 p.m. and sank in the water below. For the crew inside, the free fall was about 14 meters — equal to almost three floors. On Tuesday, TSB said the lifeboat had been released because the slingshots or ropes holding the boat in place had failed. During the exercise, the crew “unknowingly” attached the ropes to the boat in a way that put too much pressure on the back right corner, according to the report. The steel folds that held the ropes together had eroded and cracked over time and could not withstand the pressure. The slingshot on the back right of the lifeboat broke first. The others then followed, releasing the lifeboat without warning. An injured Blue Bosporus crew member is being transported to Vancouver Hospital after being injured in a lifeboat fall during a safety drill on December 1, 2020. (Ben Nelms / CBC) The report stated that the crew members were standing inside the lifeboat, without being tied to any seats. One suffered serious injuries to his arm and the other injured his legs. Coast Guard officers, the Vancouver Police Department Marine Unit and the Vancouver Port Authority all responded to Mayday’s call. Both crew members were taken to the Canadian Coast Guard base in Chicago and then taken to hospital. TSB said the shipping company, Apollonia Lines SA, had regular maintenance routines to check the lifeboat and its launch device, but did not specifically tell the crew to check the condition of the straps. The company replaced the damaged equipment in the Blue Bosphorus after the incident. It also sent new safety requirements to its ships regarding “lifeboat inspections and related equipment and lifeboat drills”, TSB reported. A broken arm and severed bolts appear on the Blue Bosphorus lifeboat after a failed drill on December 1, 2020. (Offered by the Transportation Safety Board) A Canadian Coast Guard aircraft goes ashore in English Bay in Vancouver after rescuing two members. of the cargo ship crew. (Ben Nelms / CBC)