Danger of Painting Snap Back Zones on Deck

The UK’s independent Confidential Hazardous Incident Reporting Programme (CHIRP) has issued a warning to seafarers over the practice of marking snap back zones on mooring decks.

In issue 39 of their publication “Maritime Feedback”, CHIRP has warned that the practice of marking the snap back zones for mooring lines on deck where a rope will recoil when parting is not supported by research and it is believed to create a false sense of security. To support their warning, they draw attention to the Swedish Accident Investigation Authority report into the fatal incident on the Netherlands vessel ‘MORRABORG’. 

CHIRP further advises that the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) will revise their guidance warning against the use of painted snap back zones and this will be reflected in the next edition of the Code of Safe Working Practices for Merchant Seaman (COSWP).
This supports North’s long held position that snap back zones should be discussed and identified during a toolbox talk before every mooring operation, but not permanently marked or painted. This is because these zones change depending on the different mooring configurations and may lead to a false sense of security.

Issue 39 of the CHIRP Maritime Feedback bulletin can be found here.

For further information, North’s loss prevention briefing on Mooring Operations can be downloaded here, as well as our Hot-Spots quick reference guide and Talking Points sheet to aid toolbox talks.