What to do if a person is overboard. Man overboard alert maneuver

The “man overboard” alarm is announced by the captain’s officer on duty when a person falls overboard or when people or life-saving equipment are found at sea.

The most important factor in the preservation of human life is the reduction of the time a person stays in the water.

In the event that a person’s fall overboard is noticed immediately or a person on the water is detected immediately, the captain’s officer on duty gives the command to the helmsman to switch to manual control and starts the maneuver, drops the lifebuoy with a light-smoking buoy (thus, the beginning of the maneuver is fixed, which facilitates the search), declares the alarm "Man overboard", organizes observation.

Any sailor near the navigation bridge can be an observer. If there are none, the observation is carried out by the watch officer himself until help arrives so as not to lose sight of the person on the water (circle or buoy).

If there is only one officer on duty on the bridge, then the procedure is different: he drops a lifebuoy with a light-smoking buoy, announces a “man overboard” alarm, and begins a maneuver.

In the event that a person’s fall overboard is reported with a great delay, the officer in charge of the watch reports this to the captain and acts on his instructions.

When life-saving equipment or a distress signal is found on the water at night, the captain’s officer on duty organizes observation and maneuvers in such a way as not to lose sight of them, announces the “Man overboard” alarm and, if necessary, throws out a life buoy with a light-smoking buoy to fix the place.

When choosing the initial maneuver to return to the point of fall (location) of a person, the officer on duty is guided by the state of the weather, visibility from the ship, and the possibility of stopping to lower the boat.

It would not be necessary to throw the stern from the fallen person, as was recommended earlier. With modern ship speeds and inertia, such actions are useless.

Having risen to the bridge, the captain gives instructions on which boat to prepare for launching.

When a man overboard alarm is declared, the engineer on duty uses the speed drop on the circulation to reduce the speed in order to stop the ship more quickly at the end of the maneuver.

At the end of the maneuver, the approach to a person or life-saving equipment, the stop of the vessel, the descent of the boat is led by the captain.

The main maneuver for returning to the place of the fall of a person is a 60° turn with the subsequent exit to the counter course (Williams maneuver).

The method has the following advantages:

with the exit to the counter course, the vessel goes on the trail of the vessel, which makes this method independent of the time of detection of a person falling overboard;

the observation sector is limited by small forward angles relative to the course;

a quick loss of speed is ensured when the rudder is shifted twice, which facilitates the descent of the boat at the end of the maneuver.

The disadvantage of this method is the relatively long duration. But it does not matter so much if we compare that the main expenditure of time is spent on launching the boat and on subsequent actions.

At low speed and the possibility of a quick reverse, and in other cases, when, under specific weather conditions, constant observation of a person in the water is ensured, it is possible to use a maneuver by turning 240° (Professor Sharnov's maneuver). Here it must be borne in mind that the usual composition of the crew will not provide continuous observation during the maneuver process.

The scheme of the Williams maneuver is given in the typical table of maneuvering elements. Just this maneuver is necessarily practiced in the exercises.

The officer on duty to the captain, upon arrival of the observers, according to the alarm schedule, indicates to them the observation sector and the features of the observation. Observation sectors, if possible, are duplicated.

A case report is organized. During daylight hours, the OSCAR flag is hoisted by MCC. At any time of the day, messages are made by radiotelephone indicating the coordinates of a possible place for a person to fall overboard. At the captain's direction, information about the event may also be transmitted by radiotelegraph.

Other members of the crew gather at the places indicated in the emergency schedule, with personal life-saving equipment and appropriate clothing. If necessary, a replacement or replenishment for the rescue boat is allocated from among them.

In the boat, you must have a first aid kit to provide first aid to the victim, a blanket, a thermos with hot drinks.

A reliable VHF radio connection is provided between the ship and the boat on the established channel.

In case of loss of radio communication, the direction of the boat is indicated by visual and audible signals. One sound (one flash of light), signaling with the right hand - instructions for the boat to change course to the right side. Two sounds (flicker), signaling with the left hand - instructions to the boat to change course to the left. Accordingly, monitoring of signals is organized in the boat.

When the boat with the victim approaches the vessel, the following is prepared:

means for lifting victims on board;

ship's infirmary;

the necessary help on information from the boat.

After lifting the victims on board or when the search is terminated, a message is organized to all subscriptions about the end of the operation.

The actions of the crew of the rescue boat in response to the "Man overboard" alarm are practiced in accordance with the requirements of the SOLAS-74 Convention.

ATTENTION. COPYING THESE MATERIALS TO YOUR WEBSITE IS FORBIDDEN WITHOUT THE AUTHOR'S CONSENT. IF YOU WANT TO POST THIS ARTICLE ON YOUR SITE, WRITE TO [email protected]

A series of master classes by Yuri Fadeev was published in 2011-2013 in Yacht Russia magazine.

The sea is a tricky thing, and even the most accurate, sane captains and sailors, sooner or later, may well be overboard. Training sessions for this highly undesirable situation are very important and should take place several times a season. You must immediately promise that the next time you go to sea, try to spend 5 minutes with the crew discussing a potential situation and even have a little training! It won't take long, about 10 minutes, and each time you and your team will get more and more confidence that if someone fell overboard, you will be able to pick them up quickly, in an organized and safe way. Well, I'll tell you how to do it!

In no case do not train on a person, it can end very badly - a fender with a small load or just a bucket - the perfect Oscar!

So, someone fell out, what to do?

Shout ‘MAN OVERBOARD!!!’ loudly.
Appoint a person who will do only one thing - point at a person overboard without taking his eyes off. Do not be lazy during training, make a team member point and look, this is really extremely important.
If you have a MOB (Man Over Board) button on your GPS, push it yourself or delegate it.
Count to yourself to 5. This is your only and last chance to calm down. The success of the operation, calmness, only calmness depends on what you will do and say now! Command clearly, calling people by name before the right team. The command ‘Twist staysail’ will result in a head-on collision of three people who rushed to do it.
Perform the man overboard maneuver. How to do this is discussed below.
Use the digital functions of the walkie-talkie (DSC Distress) and the Mayday call. It can always be canceled later, so if in doubt, do not be shy in any case, and even more so, do not take risks. Consider the specifics of the water area, weather conditions and team composition.
Do it right away tack, but do not carry the jib sheet to leeward. The yacht has drifted. This maneuver can and should be done from any initial course, thereby instantly stopping the yacht. If you are under a spinnaker, move in and quickly shoot the spinnaker in the wind shadow of the mainsail.
Fully select boom sheet, the grotto is no longer dangerous.
Check that there are no ends in the water especially if you were carrying a spinnaker. Start the motor.
If the engine is started, retract staysail.
Under the engine, get back to the man and when near, throw a danbuoy and a horseshoe. Support the person, say that you will return now, everything will be fine! Ask not to swim anywhere and stay where you are. Don't pick yet.
Under the engine, move away from the man downwind. 50-60 meters.
Turn around and come back trying to keep the man in the area leeward cable. So you'll approach the man from the windward side
Stop the yacht and engine in neutral without reaching the person - a screw !!!
Throw a line and pick a person.
Same as 1) above - tack and drift.
But! Engine does not start or does not exist. Lie down on backstay course. If 1) is done quickly enough, the direction will be practically back to the person. Adjust the mainsail to this course and throw the jib sheet to the standard leeboard.
Passing by - throw away horseshoe/danbuoy. Don't pick yet.
Step back 50-60 meters, and tack.
Come to the person close-hauled by combining man and lee shroud. If there is enough wind, retract the staysail and approach only under the grotto, the yacht will slowly and in a controlled manner move towards the person and stand up to windward.
If the distance to the person permits, check that by fully unraveling the boom sheet, grotto begins to rinse. If that's the case, great, you can stop a man's yacht by giving a gigasheet.
If the mainsail does not rinse when the boom sheet is released, go downwind- put the yacht sharply on the gulfwind for a couple of seconds and return back to the course close-hauled. Check the grotto again. If it rinses when the boom sheet is released, everything is OK, select the boom sheet and continue to approach the person.
10-20 meters (depending on wind and waves) give me the boom sheet, the mainsail will rinse, the yacht will gradually stop. Try to calculate so that the yacht stops close to the person. If you feel that you have not reached it, quickly select the boom sheet, the main will work and give you a couple of extra meters of travel.
Throw a line and pick a man.

Yacht under sail, with working engine

Man overboard - pick up under the engine

Yacht under sail, no working engine

Man overboard - pick up under sail

Backstay/Beidewind

Under sail, the backstay/hauled formula is very useful and is also often used when mooring to a pontoon or dead anchoring. These courses are mutually reciprocal, 120 degrees from the wind, and 60. The reversal of courses is important in the dark, or if you have lost sight of a person. If you quickly twisted the turn, drifted and went to the backstay, then stepping back and tacking, you will return to the same place with a close-hauled course. The current does not play a role here, it affects both the yacht and the Oscar in the same way. Also, it is important to remember that we do not take a person on a Gulfwind course and more fully, the yacht simply will not stop under the mainsail, the sail will work, which is why we pass by for the first time, simply throwing out the boats.

How to choose a person?

It all depends on the yacht, the crew, the condition of the person. The best thing you can do is discuss the issue with the team the next time you go out. Consider how this could be done on this particular yacht. This is already half the battle. Winches are almost always used, a person in wet non-industry is a very heavy thing. On modern yachts, it is easier to lift from the stern (stairs, steps). More classic methods include a boom (which is why it is important to be upwind of the person at the end of the maneuver, the boom will already be correctly positioned), halyards, topenant, hoists or special MOB systems. Also, I know of several cases of successfully pulling a person using storm sails, for example, a trisel (small and made of dense canvas), passed under a person and attached to a halyard. Inflated tuziki are often used, in case of absence - saved. raft. Ask this question in advance, and everything will be fine!

Happy training!

Priority actions upon discoveryman falling overboard

On deck

The first person who notices a person falling overboard must immediately take action, guided by the rule: “Circle, Alarm, Watch” :

1. Throw the nearest life buoy to a person who has fallen overboard ( A circle).

2. Report a man overboard to the bridge as soon as possible ( Anxiety).

3. Continuously monitor and not lose sight of the person who has fallen overboard ( Observation).

4. If necessary, throw a second lifebuoy overboard.

Officer's actions

The watch officer, having received a message about a person falling overboard, must immediately take the following actions:

1. Move the rudder to the side from which the person fell and, if possible, stop the car in order to divert the stern of the vessel and not drag the person into the jet from the propeller.

2. Throw overboard a lifebuoy with a light-smoking buoy from the side of a person falling overboard.

3. Declare a man overboard alarm by giving three long beeps.

4. On the GPS, AIS, electronic map, radar, press the "MOB" (Men over board) button to indicate on the display and save the coordinates of the place where a person fell overboard.

5. On VHF, give the 'Pan-Pan' urgency signal to inform ships in the vicinity. If possible, also instruct the officer on watch to raise the Oscar flag of the International Code of Signals. If there are other ships nearby, then sound the ship's whistle - “three long beeps”.

6. Establish continuous surveillance of a person who has fallen overboard. At night, illuminate a person who has fallen overboard with a searchlight.

7. Perform a maneuver to return the vessel to the place where the person fell overboard.

8. Inform the watch mechanic.

9. Weather permitting, proceed with launching the lifeboat.

10. Depending on weather conditions, equip a ladder or a life net.

Vessel Maneuvers on Man Overboard Alert

Depending on the prevailing circumstances and conditions, as well as the type of ship and the time of detection that a person has fallen overboard, various types of ship maneuvers are performed to get the ship to the point of falling overboard. Depending on how much time has passed from the moment a person fell overboard until the moment of detection, the following situations are distinguished:

1. The fall of a man overboard was seen by watchmen in the wheelhouse. In this case, they begin to perform the maneuver almost at the moment a person falls overboard.

2. The report to the watchman in the wheelhouse about the fall of a man overboard came from an eyewitness. In this case, from the moment a person falls overboard and the start of the maneuver, some time will pass and the ship will move away from the person who has fallen overboard for a certain distance, that is, the maneuver will be performed with some delay.

3. The absence of a person will be detected and it will be assumed that he fell overboard. In this case, the time interval from the moment a person falls overboard to the beginning of the maneuver can be significant, and the ship will be at a great distance from him.

Three main types of maneuver are used to return a ship to the place where a person fell overboard:

Single turn (270º turn).

U-turn by the Williamson method.

Reversal by Sharnov's method.

Anderson reversal

a) Transfer the rudder to the side from which the person fell overboard.

b) After turning the vessel to a heading angle of 250° from the initial course, put the rudder in the “straight” position and begin to stop the vessel.

Williamson reversal

It is applied at the moment of detection of a person falling overboard.

a) Transfer the rudder to the side (If this maneuver is performed immediately after the person has fallen overboard, then the rudder must be transferred to the side from which the person fell overboard).

b) After the ship turns 60º off its original course, the rudder is shifted to the opposite side.

This is how Williamson's reversal looks like on the ECDIS screen. For the training of watch officers, on the high seas, in the absence of other ships nearby, each watch officer was asked to turn Williamson and return to the return course. Some ECDIS have a MOB (Man over board) function that makes it much easier for the boat to get to a given point. During training, the watch officer presses the appropriate button on the ECDIS and performs a maneuver, the purpose of which is to return the vessel to the return course and to the specified point. Despite the apparent simplicity of the maneuver, not all assistants, including senior assistants, were able to successfully complete this maneuver the first time. And what is interesting, the success of the maneuver did not depend on the experience of the assistant, the Chinese “three” with 6 months of experience easily completed the maneuver, and the German “chief” with three contracts in the position, on the Navi Sailor 4000, “tricked” so that it’s close did not reach the set point. It should be noted that, having performed the maneuver only once, the assistants performed all subsequent maneuvers much more confidently and successfully.

Sharnov's reversal

It is used when some time has passed after a person fell overboard until the moment of detection.

a) Put the rudder on board.

b) After the ship turns 240º off its original course, the rudder is shifted to the opposite side.

c) When the ship turns on a course 20º less than the counter-course, the rudder is shifted to the "straight" position and the ship is brought to the counter-course.

When a person falls overboard, the one who notices this must immediately throw a lifebuoy into the water and report to the watch officer (“Man overboard on the right!”).

The watch officer gives the command to the helmsman to shift the rudder to the side from which the person fell in order to divert the stern and reduce the possibility of falling into the water under the propeller. At the same time, he drops a lifebuoy with a light-smoking buoy from the wing of the bridge, announces the “Man overboard” alarm, sets up an observer who must continuously monitor the fallen person using a searchlight in the dark, marks the position of his ship with a marker on the video plotter, electronic map or ARPA screen , and in the absence of these means - determines the position of the vessel as accurately as possible. In the table of maneuverable elements, these actions are expressed by the wording: “Remember: maneuver, circle, alarm, observation!”.

Starting the maneuver to exit the ship to the place where a man fell overboard, the officer on duty reports the incident to the captain and informs the engineer on duty, notifies nearby ships via VHF, raises the OSCAR flag on the MSS. the ship's whistle gives three long sounds, which is necessary not only to warn nearby ships, but also to notify a person who has fallen overboard about that. that he will be helped. During maneuvering, this sound signal can be repeated.

If an eyewitness reported a person falling overboard and action is taken with some delay, the Williamson Turn maneuver (coordinate method) is recommended. The steering wheel is shifted on board; after deviating from the original course by 60 °, put the rudder on the opposite side; not having reached 20 ° before the return course, shift the rudder to the “straight” position and lie down on the return course. The table of the ship's maneuvering elements contains the elements of the "Man overboard" maneuver using the coordinate method, taking into account the characteristics of this particular ship, determined from field observations. The angle of turn from the initial course, the operational time for shifting the rudder to the opposite side (in minutes and seconds) and arriving at the starting point of the maneuver are indicated separately for the starboard and port sides.

The Williamson turn takes longer to complete than a simple turn and temporarily moves the boat further away from where the man fell overboard, but most accurately returns the boat to that spot and to its wake. When the ship reaches the starting point of the maneuver, the speed must be reduced so that the ship can stop quickly.

In a situation. when the fact of a person falling overboard was not observed, but the loss of a person on board the ship was discovered, the Skarnow turn is used (in another transcription, the Sharnov turn). The steering wheel is also shifted to the “on board” position; after deviating from the original course by 240 °, the rudder must be shifted to the opposite side. Before reaching 20° before the return course, shift the rudder to the “straight” position so that the ship then lays down on the return course.

The Skarnow turn allows the ship to return to its wake faster than the Williamson turn, but after the turn is completed, the starting point of the maneuver will be approximately one hull aft of the ship.

While the turn is being made, the rescue boat is being prepared for launching; to receive a person who has fallen into the water directly on board the vessel, it is necessary to prepare life buoys with lines, storm ladders, cargo nets. Dedicated crew members in immersion suits and life jackets (if the suit provides for their use) and with life lines should be ready to descend into the water to assist a person overboard.

When approaching the place of a person's fall, it is necessary to extinguish the inertia of the vessel and launch the rescue boat. If it is possible to lift the victim directly on board the ship, it is necessary to cover the victim and people who enter the water to help him from the wind and excitement with the hull of the ship.

In cases where visual observation of a person who has fallen overboard is lost, especially in conditions of limited visibility, exit to the point of falling overboard is carried out, guided by the mark on the video plotter, electronic map or on the ARPA screen. This point is taken as the starting point when searching.

| H | Man overboard

On a passenger ship, the likelihood of this situation is much more common than on cargo and military ones, since there are a large number of non-professionals on board. The ship damage control manual for the navy provides for a special ship's signal "man overboard" - three long sounds - with a loud chime or whistle. The alarm is repeated three or four times.

Usually the signal is given by the officer on duty, since any ship has constant monitoring of the sea surface. But if a person is overboard in front of other passengers or crew members (and not from another ship), the first person who sees this is obliged to throw a circle to him. Of course, it is better if a professional does this - as he will not only throw a circle closer to the victim, but will also be able to avoid the danger of hitting him with this circle.

Naturally, it makes no sense to throw a life-saving device if a person is drifting in an unconscious state or is further than two cables (one cable - 185.2 m) from the vessel. In general, when rescuing a person overboard, one often has to not count on his help and reasonable actions, since the victim, who has not even lost consciousness, is usually in a semi-shock psychological state, to which the effect of cold is also added. From the ship, it makes sense to throw a buoy or any means (balls, air mattress, plastic bottles) to mark the right place and not lose sight of it during the maneuver.

If you are overboard, try to keep your presence of mind and act rationally:
- do not swim behind the vessel or towards it or life-saving appliances;
- in order to be noticed, you don’t have to shout, wave your arms - you need to slowly wave one hand while swimming on your back; it makes sense to shout two or three times - depending on the situation, but if you didn’t hear it right away, new shouts most likely won’t help;
- do not throw off clothes, it will help maintain body temperature a few degrees above the water temperature;
- get rid of unnecessary non-floating items, including in pockets;
- do not lose faith in salvation - on each ship they monitor the surface of the sea.

If a ship or yacht is moving away from you, this does not mean at all that you have not been noticed: actions on a ship's alarm "man overboard" are a complex maneuvering operation. It must be borne in mind that the stopping distance of an ordinary passenger ship is not less than a mile (1852 meters), and on large-capacity ships this distance increases to 4000 meters. Therefore, the most important thing for the victim is to conserve strength and keep warm. (see Shipwreck).

In order to keep warm, in no case should you make movements in the water - only static gymnastics, straining the muscles of the body parts in turn. The loss of heat in water is several times faster than in air, so movements, even in warm water, must be reduced to just keeping afloat.

A person who has fallen overboard in a lifejacket should use the HELP position to keep warm - group, wrap his arms around his chest, and raise his hips higher so that the water washes less of the groin area. According to some reports, this method can increase the estimated survival time in cold water by almost 50 percent.

A person rescued from the water should be immediately covered and monitored for breathing, with qualified medical measures to protect against hypothermia. (see Man is drowning).

Jacek Palkiewicz, developing the issue of survival at sea, offers ten rules for overcoming unforeseen circumstances. If you look at the “man overboard” situation more broadly (for example, in the everyday sense), it is easy to see that they can be useful not only at sea.

Rules for overcoming unforeseen circumstances:
1. Make quick decisions.
2. Be able to improvise.
3. Be able to constantly and continuously control yourself.
4. Be able to recognize danger.
5. Be able to evaluate people.
6. Be self-reliant and independent.
7. Be persistent and stubborn when necessary, but if necessary, be able to obey.
8. Recognize, without despair, the limit of your abilities.
9. Seek, when it seems that there are no more options, other ways out of trouble before giving up completely.
10. And even then, don't give up.