Viking Islay

1052 Words3 Pages

Preamble
This is a work about a maritime accident that occurred in the North Sea the early fall of 2007. In a chain of reactions, the accident harvested three lives; when it could have been prevented all from beginning and the normal operation could have gone through without me writing an assignment about it six and a half year later.

The abbreviation ERRV
The Viking Islay was, and still are (2014-01-24), a UK registered ship in the ERRV class. ERRV is an abbreviation of Emergency Rescue and Recovery Vessel. ERRV ships are at most times laying stand-by alongside to one offshore installation or a “community” of installations with main duty of rescuing/recovering people from the water and provide them with medical first aid. During accidents the ERRV ships are acting as an OSC (On Scene Coordinator) as well as they can act as an extra radio station if there is not possible to continue broadcast signals from the offshore installation. Further on the ERRV ships duties include to protect the installation, and therefore monitor the safety zone around the installation. The safety zone is a circular five hundred meters area where ships are not allowed to go in without permission from the installation. If any ship is proceeding towards the installation without permission the ERRV ship will act as a guard and make efforts to stop the threat.

The ships working hours
The Viking Islay is just one of these kind of ships, with a stand-by time of normally 28 days alongside the rig ENSCO 92, at the Amethyst gas field, 22 nautical miles off the East Yorkshire coast on the British sector of the North Sea. When the Viking Islay wasn’t at her stand-by position (e.g. at times it was crew change) a replacement had relieved her. Together they cove...

... middle of paper ...

...d call for help. Two members of the crew who heard and reacted on the alarm were the 1st mate and the 2nd mate who together with the AB ran forward to the foc’sle.

At the foc’sle the three people looked down into the compartment and saw two bodies laying on the bottom unconscious. They all returned to the accommodation and, together with the cook they found and gathered rescue equipment, BA (breathing apparatus) and EEBD (emergency escape breathing device).

At 1107 the ships general alarm was sounded by the captain, making the remaining crew to assemble on the designated muster point. The captain also established contact with the rig ENSCO 92 to inform them about the accident. ENSCO 92 made preparations and assembled their own crew to assist the Viking Islay. Together the crew who mustered on the aft muster station went all forward to the point of the accident.

More about Viking Islay

Open Document