Berthing Handover - From Procedure to Read-Back
KIRKELLA (reconstruction)
Fishing vessel with controllable pitch propeller · Hull, UK · Reported 2024
Source: MAIB; IMCA SF 18/24
The Situation
You are the Master of a fishing vessel berthing in a commercial dock. This scenario takes you through the whole task of passing propulsion control from the bridge to the engine room: the procedure, the risk assessment, the standing order, the walk-through and the handover itself. Your earlier choices carry forward. It is a training reconstruction based on the MAIB account of the KIRKELLA incident.
The Lesson
The controls are a chain: a written changeover procedure, an interlock request, a standing order, a walk-through, and a read-back of the lever at the receiving station. A mismatch found before the thrust is applied is not an incident.
Human Element
A control handover accepted without checking the lever, no interlock, no written procedure, and a tug close ahead. Five linked stages, then a seconds-long recovery.
Try the First Decision
PLANNING AND PREPARATION. You are the Master of a fishing vessel with a controllable pitch propeller. She has two control stations: the bridge and the engine control room. You are about to berth in a commercial dock with a tug lying nearby. There is no written changeover procedure, and the propulsion system has no interlock to stop the levers being out of step. How do you plan the handover of control?
This is a preview — the full scenario branches from here based on what you choose, with real consequences and a debrief at the end.
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