Manoverboard
Further to the article that CHIRP published in Maritime FEEDBACK 48 – “Loss of night watchmen in a harbour”, we have received the following message relating to the same port.
Recently a night watchman saw a crew member attempting to board his boat which was moored in the harbour late at night. The watchman noted the apparent difficulty which the crew member was having trying to board his vessel, and so he proceeded to walk toward the vessel to make sure that the crew member boarded safely. The watchman was about thirty feet from the vessel when he heard a splash – the crew member had fallen into the harbour. The night watchman acted as he had been trained by raising the alarm, then he proceeded to help the crew member as best as he could.
The night watchman successfully managed to get the crew member out of the water and safely onto the pier. The crew member sustained minor cuts and bruising to his arm. Had the night watchman not been there, then the situation could have been far different. The Harbour Board requested that I thank CHIRP for their help in the matter of persuading the local authorities to overturn their decision to remove the night watchman.
CHIRP Comment
CHIRP is very relieved that the crew member came to no harm and, further to the article in Maritime FEEDBACK 48, this report shows the true value of having the night watchman in place. Safety should always be given the highest priority and override cost savings. In this case, a life has potentially been saved.
Report Ends…………………………………..
