Safety Lessons from Marine Incident Investigation (AMSA Report) No.34 - February 2025

Propeller strike injury – due to poor safety management system implementation

Overview

A swimmer participating in a marine wildlife interaction tour sustained a foot injury from a propeller strike when a crew member attempted to tow them alongside a tender vessel. This activity was in breach of the operations’ safety management system procedures.

What happened

A marine wildlife interaction tour had passengers engaged in swimming with wildlife. The crew noticed two swimmers lagging behind the main group. A tender, skippered by a coxswain, was despatched by the parent vessel to recover them.

The coxswain instructed both swimmers to hold onto the port side of the tender. Due to the small size of the tender, one swimmer was holding on towards the rear in close proximity to its outboard motor.

At that time, another swimmer signalled for assistance. The coxswain made ready to engage the motor, and a sound was heard that was likely the propeller striking the foot of the rearward swimmer, whose feet were in the vicinity of the motor.

The third swimmer was recovered and the tender returned to the parent vessel. First aid was applied to the injured passenger’s foot. The tour returned to shore and the passenger was taken to hospital for further medical treatment.

Investigation findings

This marine incident occurred because the tender’s engine was in gear while individuals were holding on to the side of the tender, resulting in the injured person’s foot contacting the propeller. The operator's failure to ensure the engine was not in gear while persons were in the water and in close proximity to the propeller represented a breach of their safety management system protocols.

Safety message

A failure to strictly follow safety management system procedures can result in potentially serious injuries. Under the National Law, the owner and master are responsible for ensuring safety for all people, including persons on or near the vessel. Strict adherence to operational and safety procedures and comprehensive training for operators and all crew is essential to ensuring passenger safety.

Safety procedures for emergency/continency events, such as recovering swimmers experiencing difficulties, need to be risk assessed, in consultation with the master and crew, to ensure that the process does not pose additional hazards. Documenting the completion of training in safety procedures is a regulatory requirement, and demonstrates the owner and master are meeting their general safety duties.

Note: Changes to safety management systems, including additional written procedures for key vessel operations, come into effect from 1 June 2025