Industry safety noticeCollisionLoss of PositionLifting / Crane
Vessel contact during materials transfer in deteriorating weather
IMCA reports that as weather rapidly deteriorated, one vessel lost heading and position control and was pushed toward the other. With the cargo sling still connected neither could manoeuvre clear, and the sterns made contact, damaging both.
Source information
- Source
- International Marine Contractors Association
- Investigating authority
- None. Industry safety notice, not a regulatory investigation
- Report / reference no.
- IMCA SF 17/26
- Publication date
- Oct 1, 2026
- Last verified
- Oct 4, 2026
Industry Safety Flash; IMCA does not state whether DP was in use.
Source / investigation findings: IMCA
Contributing factors
- Operations continued past safe limits despite visibly deteriorating weather (summarised from IMCA).
- Neither Master suspended operations when position-keeping became marginal (summarised from IMCA).
- Ineffective bridge resource management between the two bridges (summarised from IMCA).
- The risk assessment lacked specific, measurable weather stop-work triggers (summarised from IMCA).
Lessons learned
Source / investigation findings: IMCA
- IMCA stresses that safety takes priority over commercial pressure and that stop work authority belongs to everyone.
- IMCA advises agreeing responsibility, authority and operational “red lines” before multi-vessel operations begin.
Gulf of America educational summary
Nobody called it a day. Agree measurable weather limits and who stops the job before you go alongside — and stop when you reach them.
- Write numeric wind and sea stop limits into the plan.
- Disconnect the load before you lose the ability to manoeuvre.
- Both bridges must share the same picture and the same authority to stop.
Plain-language interpretation by Gulf of America. Not a finding of IMCA or any investigating authority.