Grounding can lead to many further emergencies like pollution and fire. The actions of the OOW at the time of occurrence are vital to maintain the integrity of the vessel and maximise the possibility of successfully salvaging the vessel.
Immediate Actions following Grounding or Stranding:
- Stop engines.
- Sound General Alarm, Muster and account for all hands.
- Shut all watertight doors.
- Consider use of anchor.
- Switch to high cooling water intakes.
- Display signal required by the Collision Regulations.
- Take all necessary action to preserve life, safety of own and other vessels and the environment.
- Determine and record the ship’s position and which way the deep water lies, nature of seabed and obtain information on currents and tides.
- Ascertain extent of damage to own vessel, including status of machinery.
- Sound all ship tanks and spaces, record results. If oil pollution evident consider changing ER intakes to low sea suction.
- Broadcast an URGENCY message to all ships in the vicinity and local coastguard or broadcast a DISTRESS ALERT if the ship is in grave and imminent danger.
- Inform Coast/Flag State Authorities and Company’s DPA/Emergency Response team. Request assistance if necessary.
- Consider reducing the draught of the ship.
- Make ship’s position available to radio room/GMDSS station, satellite terminal and other automatic
distress transmitters and update as necessary.
- Consider taking on additional ballast to prevent unwanted movement.
- Preserve VDR or S-VDR records.
- Maintain a comprehensive log of events and conclusion of the incident complete all required reports.
It is vitally important that all Watchkeeping Officers on board are familiar with the emergency procedures set out in the vessels Safety Management System (SMS). This is supplements by the information contained within the Bridge Procedures Guide emergency grounding/stranding checklist which is available for download below.
Download BPG Grounding Checklist
