Volendam: Coroner's Report

[erewhon]

Yesterday the Coroner's findings were made public and printed in the Christchurch Press newspaper, under the headline "Lifesaving attendant could not swim".

This accident occurred January 8th, 2011 when crew member Nanang Dwi Purwono died while doing maintenance work on the lifeboat on the side of cruise ship MV Volendam, berthed in Lyttelton harbour.

He was one of two men on the boat when one of the wires suspending the lifeboat to the ship snapped, leaving the boat dangling and throwing the two men into the water below.

Purwono was hired in 2009 as a lifesaving attendant, leaving him responsible for the maintenance of all lifesaving equipment, including lifeboats.

At the time of his death, he had been greasing wire hoisting ropes on a lifeboat with the second crew member, when another crew member operating the boat's winch began lowering the lifeboat so they could finish greasing.

Both crew members were wearing safety harnesses which were attached to a safety line.

 

The coroner ruled the death as accidental, compounded by the fact that Purwono was wearing a heavy safety harness and clothes, was not wearing a life jacket and could not swim.

 

Full report of the story at www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/

 

(Sorry can't get the full link to work, but if you enter worker-fell-drowned into the search box at the above site, the full story should appear.)

[Keith1010]

Thanks for sharing this. So sad.

 

Keith

[Krazy Kruizers]

I remember that incident.

Very sad.

Thank you for updating the coroner's report.

[KirkNC]

I remember that incident.

Very sad.

Thank you for updating the coroner's report.

 

As do I, very sad. Wonder if wearing a life jacket, even a small inflatable one has been considered going forward.

[kazu]

As do I, very sad. Wonder if wearing a life jacket, even a small inflatable one has been considered going forward.

 

Me too. I would have thought a life jacket would have been standard.

 

Thanks for sharing the report

[sail7seas]

Thinking back to all the times we've seen the sailors working on lifeboats, they have always been wearing life vests. I cannot recall them ever not having the lightweight, thin vests on. Wonder why not this time.

 

Very, very sad to ever hear of a tragedy involving a crew member.

 

[RuthC]

I remember this well, as I was preparing to sail the Volendam from Auckland shortly after. It was a very sad event, and put a bit of a pall over the cruise.

Thank you for linking us to the findings.

[Himself]

Thinking back to all the times we've seen the sailors working on lifeboats, they have always been wearing life vests. I cannot recall them ever not having the lightweight, thin vests on. Wonder why not this time.

 

Very, very sad to ever hear of a tragedy involving a crew member.

 

 

I have always noticed the same thing.

[wander]

I have noticed that as well.

[erewhon]

I remember this well, as I was preparing to sail the Volendam from Auckland shortly after. It was a very sad event, and put a bit of a pall over the cruise.

Thank you for linking us to the findings.

 

If I recall correctly, that lifeboat was not on the ship for your cruise.

[PathfinderEss]

So sad, maybe they should require them to wear lifejackets?

[NoobCruise]

I don't mean to be insensitive, but I don't understand why anyone working on a ship or boat wouldn't make the effort to learn to swim. That honestly puzzles me.

[Salacia]

I don't mean to be insensitive, but I don't understand why anyone working on a ship or boat wouldn't make the effort to learn to swim. That honestly puzzles me.

 

I am puzzled why the cruise line did not require that a "life saving attendant" know how to swim. (Even teenage employees in my small local village pool must pass swimming and life saving exams before being hired for summer employment for the job of "Life Guard".)

 

Condolences to the family and friends of this crew member.

Respectfully,

Salacia

[KirkNC]

I don't mean to be insensitive, but I don't understand why anyone working on a ship or boat wouldn't make the effort to learn to swim. That honestly puzzles me.

 

I thought the same thing but many of the crew members come from a very different world than we do so I guess it is not as common to be taught to swim.

[jakkojakko]

I am puzzled why the cruise line did not require that a "life saving attendant" know how to swim. (Even teenage employees in my small local village pool must pass swimming and life saving exams before being hired for summer employment for the job of "Life Guard".)

 

Condolences to the family and friends of this crew member.

Respectfully,

Salacia

 

He was not a lifeguard. His job was to maintain lifesaving equipment, like greasing the cables of the lifeboats etc.

[Topsham]

He was not wearing a lifevest because he was not working on a boat IN the water. That is when the vests are worn... not when working topside, which is what he was doing. Had he fallen 50 feet wearing a vest it would have probably broken his neck. Remember the instructions at Safety Muster... DO NOT JUMP!!!!

 

He was wearing a safety harness as he should have been, but I do not know what it was attached to when the boat fell. As I recall they were getting ready to get off the boat back onto the deck when a boat hook snagged the quick release mechanisim causing the boat to freefall. The details are sketchy... need to go back and refresh.

 

As for swimming.... not a requirement for going to sea.... anyone going into the sea from a ship should be wearing a lifejacket. The water is deeper than it looks!

[Copper10-8]

He was not wearing a lifevest because he was not working on a boat IN the water. That is when the vests are worn... not when working topside, which is what he was doing. Had he fallen 50 feet wearing a vest it would have probably broken his neck. Remember the instructions at Safety Muster... DO NOT JUMP!!!!

 

He was wearing a safety harness as he should have been, but I do not know what it was attached to when the boat fell. As I recall they were getting ready to get off the boat back onto the deck when a boat hook snagged the quick release mechanisim causing the boat to freefall. The details are sketchy... need to go back and refresh.

 

As for swimming.... not a requirement for going to sea.... anyone going into the sea from a ship should be wearing a lifejacket. The water is deeper than it looks!

 

Thanks for setting that straight Captain and Jakkojakko! LSA's of Life Saving Attendants are also known as 'Boatmen' on HAL. They're responsible, among other things, for opening and closing the shell doors for the gangway as well as for the pilot(s) to come onboard. With HAL, all are Indonesian

[RuthC]

If I recall correctly, that lifeboat was not on the ship for your cruise.

You have a good memory; the lifeboat wasn't there. The passengers assembled under a hot sun for muster drill, and looked up to see ... nothing to climb into.

I do understand that they were given instructions as to which lifeboat they were reassigned to, should the need arise.

 

I know the lack of that lifeboat sure made a mess of my sitting outside plans! I had to move down to the next station to find a lounger in the shade.

[mamaofami]

. Very sad.

[innlady1]

I, too, remember the lifeboat was missing on your cruise, Ruth. It is a very sad story.

[indokiwi]

Thanks for setting that straight Captain and Jakkojakko! LSA's of Life Saving Attendants are also known as 'Boatmen' on HAL. They're responsible, among other things, for opening and closing the shell doors for the gangway as well as for the pilot(s) to come onboard. With HAL, all are Indonesian

 

 

However, I believe that the first statement is incorrect: "He was not wearing a lifevest because he was not working on a boat IN the water. That is when the vests are worn... not when working topside, which is what he was doing. Had he fallen 50 feet wearing a vest it would have probably broken his neck."

 

The lifevests that we see Deck officers and other people on the tender platforms wear along with those that are working outside, like the painters, are the same ones that we wear when we go sailing - a Mustang inflatable vest, which only inflates when it contacts the water. It would not inflate if someone were to fall from a height of 50 feet - just at any point the person entered the water, which would negate the claim that a person would break their neck in this case. If a crew member were wearing the bulky vests that passenger receive, it would make working quite difficult, but we have never seen crew members wearing these except for when they are in drills. Correct me if I am wrong, but I was told on our last cruise that all crew have to wear these inflatable vests now when they are doing similar work as when the accident happened i.e. greasing lines, etc.

[Typhoon1]

Since he could not swim. He should have been wearing a vest. A recipe for disaster.

[TiogaCruiser]

It is sounding like the Coroner recently filed this report, correct? It's now over 2 years later- isn't that a long time? His poor family- I sure hope they didn't have to wait this long to have services and some "closure" so they can move to their next step of grieving.

[mariner]

The strange thing is many seaman can't swim. They don't expect the ship to sink.

 

Then again, many kids I see parents drop at pools onboard and at hotels really don't know how to swim either.

 

Drowning people don't splash and make a lot of noise. They just give up and sink.

[erewhon]

It is sounding like the Coroner recently filed this report, correct? It's now over 2 years later- isn't that a long time? His poor family- I sure hope they didn't have to wait this long to have services and some "closure" so they can move to their next step of grieving.

 

The Coroners report was printed in "The Press" the Christchurch morning newspaper on Wednesday 14th August 2013.

Coroner's reports can take a long time.