Millgarth — The Widening Gap
Millgarth
Tug · Tranmere Oil Terminal, Birkenhead, England · 27 January 2019
Source: MAIB Report 15/2019
The Situation
You're releasing lines from the north oil stage at Tranmere Oil Terminal as your tug prepares to move off. Access and egress at this stage has been flagged before — an internal audit raised it, and a sister tug had a near-miss here just months ago. You know the usual routine is to release the last line and step aboard as the tug starts to move.
The Lesson
When a fatality or a near-miss exposes a systemic risk, the fix has to be systemic too. A lesson that stays at vessel level, rather than reaching the whole fleet, is a lesson that gets to repeat itself.
Human Element
A near-identical fatal accident had already happened on a sister vessel four years earlier, and an internal audit had already flagged access and egress at this exact terminal — but neither had produced a fleet-wide fix, leaving the same hazard in place for the next crew member to meet.
Try the First Decision
Given what's already been flagged about this stage, you have a choice about how you time your own boarding once the last line is off.
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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