A new module addressing the implications of SOLAS regulations for the recovery of crew and passengers in distress at sea has been released by leading maritime training provider, Seagull.
The Seagull module, Recovery of persons from the water (CBT 297), is directed at management and operational staff responsible for a ship's safety management system.
The need to recover people from water usually occurs at short notice in emergency situations. The training module will help those onboard to draw up a ship-specific plan and it emphasises the need for everyone onboard ship to be familiar with their role in it.
The objectives include being able to identify the risks, recognise the factors that should be taken into account and list the essential requirements of a plan as well as know that drills must take place and be recorded.
In addition, the module's objectives include being able to list the actions to be taken to help those rescued to recover from the effects of being in cold water and to identify actions that can be taken when direct rescue is not possible.
Roger Ringstad, Roger Ringstad, Managing Director, Seagull AS, says: "This module helps ship's staff prepare, revise and review plans and procedures in line with SOLAS 111/17-1), which came into force on July 1 2014 and means that all ships will now have ship-specific plans and procedures for the recovery of persons from the water".
"The requirements apply to new ships constructed (with keel laid) on or after July 1 2014, and to existing ships by the first periodical or renewal safety equipment survey after this date. Ro-Ro passenger ships have already been requested to carry means of recovery equipment and should have complied already with the requirements."
Seagull's 60-minute, English language module has been created with the assistance of the Norwegian-headquartered supplier of safety, rescue and inspection equipment, Dacon AS, and with the UK company Jason's Cradle® Man Overboard Solutions, whose MOB system is used globally to retrieve people quickly and horizontally from the water.
"The importance of the horizontal recovery position cannot be overstated, as an estimated 20% of persons die during vertical lifting," says Mr Ringstad. "Horizontal lifting reduces the possibilities of 'dry drowning' and it is one of the quickest and safest methods of retrieving both conscious and unconscious persons."
