Types of emergency
Governing: STCW Table A-VI/1-1; REG Yacht Code Common Annexes, Annex C. Builds on: L1.1.
Table A-VI/1-1 opens with "types of emergency situations which may occur, such as collision, fire, foundering". The list is not exhaustive, and on a yacht the likely ones are worth naming.
What can happen
| Emergency | Yacht example | Likely outcome if it escalates |
|---|---|---|
| Collision | Close-quarters with a ferry off Palma at night | Flooding, fire, abandonment |
| Fire | Laundry dryer, galley, lithium battery in the garage | Loss of accommodation, abandonment |
| Foundering | Down-flooding through open garage or shell doors | Rapid abandonment |
| Grounding | Anchoring close in for guests | Hull breach, pollution |
| Flooding | Failed seacock or sterntube seal | Loss of stability |
| Man overboard | Crew working at the stern during tender recovery | Rescue boat launch |
| Medical | Guest collapse ashore on a tender trip | Evacuation |
The common thread: a small problem handled late becomes an abandonment. The survival chain starts long before anyone reaches a liferaft.
Principles of survival
The table lists them, and the order matters:
- Training and drills have value. You will do in an emergency what you rehearsed.
- Personal protective clothing and equipment: dress for the water, not the deck.
- Be ready for any emergency: know where things are before you need them.
- Actions when called to survival craft stations.
- Actions when required to abandon ship.
- Actions in the water.
- Actions aboard a survival craft.
- Main dangers to survivors: cold, drowning, exposure, dehydration, seasickness, injury and the loss of the will to live.
Your personal readiness
Within your first day aboard, know:
- your muster station and your duties on the muster list;
- the general emergency alarm and any other signals;
- where your lifejacket and immersion suit are, and a spare route to each;
- your escape routes from your cabin, your workplace and the guest areas you service;
- the location of liferafts, lifebuoys and grab bags.
TIP — Walk it blind Walk from your bunk to your muster station once with the lights on and once with your eyes half closed. Smoke makes a familiar corridor unrecognisable.
Drills on a Code yacht
REG Yacht Code Annex C sets the minimum:
| Requirement | Standard |
|---|---|
| Frequency | Every crew member: at least one abandon ship drill and one fire drill every month |
| New crew | If more than 25% have not drilled on that ship in the previous month, drills within 24 hours of leaving port |
| New ship or major change | Drills before the vessel sails |
| Conduct | As far as practicable, as if it were a real emergency |
| Enclosed space | Crew with entry or rescue duties drill at least every two months |
An abandon ship drill includes mustering with the general alarm, reporting to stations, checking that people are suitably dressed and their lifejackets correctly donned, operating davits for liferafts where fitted, a mock search for guests trapped in staterooms, and instruction in radio life-saving appliances.
CAUTION — Guests are not crew Guests will not know the alarm, the route or how a lifejacket works. The muster list will allocate crew to find and escort them. That duty depends on you knowing the ship better than they do.