Liberia Investigation: Bosun loses his life after falling through a chain rail

The Liberia Maritime Authority has issued an accident report regarding an incident where a bosun fell through a chain rail near the starboard bunker deck while handling a cargo net, resulting in his death. 

The incident

On May 11th, 2025, the M/V OCEAN LION was berthed in the Port of Panjin, China, and was discharging cargo and scheduled to receive engine spare parts. The Bosun engaged in transferring the engine spare parts from a truck on the berth to the vessel’s deck using the ship’s crane and a cargo net. After all the spare parts were brought onboard, the Bosun attempted to manually toss the cargo net back ashore.

He lost his balance and fell through a chain rail section of the handrail near the starboard bunker deck onto a rubber fender between the berth and the vessel. Emergency response actions were initiated immediately, and the Bosun was transported to a local hospital. Despite all efforts, he succumbed to his injuries later that day.

Damage/outcomes/pollution/injuries:

• The Bosun sustained fatal injuries as a result of a fall from height onto a rubber fender.
• No pollution resulted from the incident.
• The vessel’s equipment, machinery, and structure sustained no damage.

Conclusion

The casualty resulted from a fall from height during manual handling of a cargo net near the starboard bunkering point. Although chains were installed and secured, one chain failed under load. The Bosun was wearing PPE but lacked fall protection. The task was performed alone without supervision, and no specific risk assessment was conducted for operations near the ship’s side.

Contributory factors:

• Manual tossing of the cargo net instead of crane-assisted lowering.
• The damaged chain at the bunkering point was not detected due to a probable lack of periodical inspection.
• No second person assigned for safety monitoring during the operations task near or over the ship’s side.
• Lack of specific risk assessment for operations near the ship’s side.
• Possible missing or worn non-skid paint, reducing deck grip.

Probable cause:

The probable cause of the casualty was the Bosun losing balance while manually tossing a cargo net ashore during spare parts transfer operations, combined with the failure of a damaged chain barrier at the bunkering point.

Recommendations:

a. Safe handling procedures 

• Prohibit manual tossing of cargo nets; enforce crane-only handling for all transfers.
• Assign a second person as a safety watch during operations near the ship’s side.

b. Physical barriers and fall protection

• Conduct thorough periodical visual inspection of the removable chains and securing points.

c. Deck safety

• Verify non-skid paint condition at critical work areas; reapply as needed.

d. Risk assessment and situational awareness

• Implement specific risk assessments for operations near the ship’s side, including hazard identification and control measures.
• Reinforce situational awareness during toolbox meetings; highlight risks of working near the ships side.

e. SMS compliance and training

• Conduct refresher training on hazard awareness, fall prevention, and proper inspection of handrails and safety chains.
• Issue fleet-wide safety alert summarizing this incident and lessons learned; integrate case study into recurrent training.
• source : safety4sea