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Lift Boat Propeller Near Miss
A commercial diving crew performing regular field maintenance from a lift boat in 25 ft of water in the Gulf of Mexico experienced a potentially catastrophic near miss. Approximately 70 ft of the divers umbilical was pulled into the lift boat propeller before it was completely severed less than 20 ft from the diver.
The diver was working underwater on an offshore platform riser. The lift boat was stationed 20 ft from the work site, and was elevated from the surface of the water 2 ft, leaving the propeller and rudder assembly underwater. The configuration of the Lift boat was such that the dive station was above the propeller area (stern of vessel).
The lift boat's main engines (which turn the propeller shaft), and the lift boat crane, share a common hydraulic system. During crane operations, though the main engines are in neutral, there exists a possibility of partial clutch engagement causing a slow rotation of the propeller.
The dive crew's standard procedure on this type of vessel is to secure the shaft with a large pipe wrench, chain, binder, and lock-out/tag-out. For unknown reasons, this procedure failed, causing the shaft to turn the propeller slowly, grabbing the divers hose and pulling the diver toward the propeller. This action occurred during a timeframe of less than 60 seconds prior to the umbilical completely severing. The diver surfaced unharmed.
The diver was working underwater on an offshore platform riser. The lift boat was stationed 20 ft from the work site, and was elevated from the surface of the water 2 ft, leaving the propeller and rudder assembly underwater. The configuration of the Lift boat was such that the dive station was above the propeller area (stern of vessel).
The lift boat's main engines (which turn the propeller shaft), and the lift boat crane, share a common hydraulic system. During crane operations, though the main engines are in neutral, there exists a possibility of partial clutch engagement causing a slow rotation of the propeller.
The dive crew's standard procedure on this type of vessel is to secure the shaft with a large pipe wrench, chain, binder, and lock-out/tag-out. For unknown reasons, this procedure failed, causing the shaft to turn the propeller slowly, grabbing the divers hose and pulling the diver toward the propeller. This action occurred during a timeframe of less than 60 seconds prior to the umbilical completely severing. The diver surfaced unharmed.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Toby Dodd on
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it's on the adc site. i think it's a few years old, just wanted to post it to give the new guys something to think about. http://www.adc-int.org/safety-notices.php
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site has changed to http://www.adc-int.org/safe.htm
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Permalink Reply by Ethan on
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so was this the tenders fault for not keeping excessive slack out of the line or was it the divers fault for not paying attention to what was going on with his line? i mean at any speed , 60 seconds means quite a bit of slack in the line. someone is to blame since it must be common knowledge that even after doing standard tag out procedure its still going to fail and the prop has a good chance of still turning. maybe im not getting a good mental picture of how this was set up. and why would you set up a dive station directley above a prop if you knew there was a chance it could spin even after tag out?
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Reply by Shaun K Flynn (DV-1) 9 hours ago
ERRRRRRMMMMMMMMM WTF IS A LINE CAPT DEEPSEA DIPPY DIP S*** LOL. Read what he said, it was a few years ago and it was posted on the A.D.C. site. So again you fail to pay attention and have that new tender smell to you lol.
This doesnt even make any sense Shaun. You seeing imaginary elves again?
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ahhhh well the first rule of being a comic is to know your audience. I dont know s***-o-la about how a lot of stuff works yet. Your joke flew right over my head haha Thanks for spelling it out for me
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policies implemented after the accident are as follows.
A "purpose" built clamp which will not become disengaged, with pad-lock, will be installed on shaft(s) prior to any diving operations.
A lift boat must be elevated above the waterline enough to completely expose the propeller and rudder assembly.
Specific JHA (Job Hazard Analysis) must be performed which involves vessel crew and dive crew.
...we dive off the stern on everything with rudders and props. we can't stop diving off the stern because of these things. we have to come up with new and different measures to make sure the accidents don't happen again. shortly after this incident in '05, a diver was killed with the same circ**stances. i haven't heard of it happening since then and i can assume that the new safety measures have worked. there's so many people to blame for this one thing happening. did the dive crew and boat crew have jsa's in the morning? did the dive sup and the captain do a walk around to make sure everything was locked out/tagged out? was the pipe wrench in good condition? was the binder in good condition? was it installed properly on the shaft? did the engineer remove anything? was there communication between the dive sup, crane operator, engineer and captain during dive ops? in my experience, i've always had jsa's before each shift and each job. every single thing was discussed and 3 different people put eyes on what needed to be done for safety reasons. as LT i always had comms on vhf radio with my dive sup and the captain. it's sad, but there are people on dive jobs that become lazy, settled in their ways and complacent. it results in near misses and/or injuries.
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Permalink Reply by Anthony B on
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Hey Flynn as for your Ranger-Marine love comment A. your gay B. Rangers and Marines get each other, both live by a code, highly disciplined and do the s*** no one else will try. Anyway, Flynn as my welsh mother would say-stop being so effin English. JK Shaun have a good night. lol
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holy s*** Shaun I didn't even have to spot u the m and the a n u spelled map. There is hope 4 ya boyo. Just kidding, I have mad respect for any diver who does this job and from the sounds of things your good at it. BTW Ocean corp and my dance card is full, but if you're buying dinner-who knows. JK have a good night man.
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Permalink Reply by Martin on
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Wow S.Flynn >Diver none..you really have seen it and done it all. But by the looks of things and the sound of things you need to move on. I really haven't read one post from you that is worth reading. I really do hope that you're no where near any dive job. Your kind of arrogance is destined to get someone hurt. Perhaps your time is better spent telling your has been stories to someone who ISN'T passionate about this work...! Stay safe and please quit wasting my time with your foolish posts.
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Move on to greener pastures Flynn. I feel like i have been insulted by a perverted toddler. Divers dont need a reputation of such unintelligence. Im not trying to get in your pecker measuring contest.. just rid you from giving people the wrong impression of this unique career. And what the point of these wall threats.
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