Thomson Celebration - Fatacc involving tender in 2006 MAIB report released

**Ally** · 06-05-2007, 03:47 AM

On the afternoon of 26 September 2006, the passenger vessel Thomson Celebration
prepared to depart from the anchorage at St Peter Port, Guernsey. All passengers had
been confirmed on board and the passenger tenders were recalled for recovery. As
one of the tenders, Tender 15, was being manoeuvred under the falls, it was affected
by the 1.5 knot tide and the driver lost full control. A member of the tender’s crew
became trapped between the ship’s side and he tender coach house as the boat came
heavily alongside the ship. He received fatal crush injuries to his upper chest.

The coxswain of the tender was an AB / quartermaster who was considered qualified to
command the boat by virtue of his survival craft proficiency certificate and some unspecified
in-house training.

The launch/recovery position for Tender 15 was in way of the part of the hull where it began
to taper away from the parallel side towards the transom. In this position the boat’s coach
house roof was able to contact the ship’s side if the boat accidentally came alongside.

Passenger tenders are generally designed with a dual purpose to act as both lifeboat and
passenger tender and they form part of the ship’s statutory lifesaving equipment. However,
these craft are generally much larger and faster than a traditional lifeboat and, when being
used as a tender, they fulfil a completely different and important role on board. The passenger
capacity and speed of these craft have increased over the years and now some passenger
tenders are able to carry over 150 passengers, at speeds of over 20 knots.

Nevertheless, there are no international minimum competency standards applicable to
the coxswain or crew of a passenger tender over and above those required for a lifeboat.
Many passenger ship operators, including the operators of Thomson Celebration, provided
additional in-house tender drivers’ courses, however their structure and content varied
significantly. The training provided to the tender crews on Thomson Celebration was not well
implemented, monitored or verified. Crucially, the crews were given instruction on how to
approach the ship’s side, in fine conditions, and the possibility that the tenders may need to
make an approach in a significant tidal stream was not considered.

There are no agreed standards for the design and equipping of passenger tenders over and
above those pertaining to their role as a lifeboat. Individual classification societies have
developed their own standards but, given that some tenders can carry over 150 passengers
at high speed, to remote destinations, there appears a need for standards to be developed
and applied across the industry.

The MAIB is aware of over 50 accidents to passenger tenders. These incidents only
represent those reported from a fraction of the world’s passenger vessel fleet and it is
reasonable to assume, therefore, that a real and potentially dangerous problem exists.

Safety Issues:

• Where a lifeboat is operated as a passenger tender, great responsibility is placed on
the coxswain and crew, and it is reasonable to expect them to be highly skilled in this
task. This accident, and a number of others, highlights the need for internationally
agreed standards of training and certification of tender coxswains and crews, covering
the handling, navigation and general safe operation of lifeboats operating as passenger
tenders.
• There is a need for internationally agreed standards for the design and equipping of
boats that are used as passenger tenders, given that many carry large numbers of
passengers to remote destinations.
• Where feasible, bearing in mind the frequency with which passenger tenders may be
deployed and recovered, ship designers should site them in way of the ship’s parallel
side.

Marine Accident Investigation Branch: Thomson Celebration/Tender 15