Safety warning issued after mooring line failure on board LNG tanker Zarga resulted in serious injury to a deck officer
Urgent safety lessons on the elongation and snap-back characteristics of mooring lines
Safety Bulletin 1/2015
Summary
The Marine Accident Investigation Branch is carrying out an investigation into the mooring line failure on board LNG tanker Zarga while alongside South Hook LNG terminal, Milford Haven on 2 March 2015 which resulted in serious injury to a deck officer.
Following the accident, the MAIB commissioned a series of tests and trials designed to measure the elongation and snap-back characteristics of the mooring lines used on board Zarga. Here are a sequence of short video clips with accompanying voice over showing the trials:
Snap-back and Elongation characteristics trial video Pt1
Snap-back and Elongation characteristics trial video Pt2
Snap-back and Elongation characteristics trial video Pt3
Snap-back and Elongation characteristics trial video Pt4
Please note that the causes and contributing factors of Zarga’s mooring line failure are subject to an ongoing investigation and will be discussed in a full investigation report.