Guidance on the Use of Simulation to Augment Lifeboat Drills
From Live Boat Launches to Simulation
Lifeboat launch and recovery accidents continue to occur, despite new IMO safety measures. Boat drills account for an unacceptable number of deaths and injuries. Those in the charge of marine personnel must protect their seafarers, at all costs.
Using simulation to augment lifeboat drills has been proven to be an effective method of eliminating personal injury and for improving competency retention. Increasing adoption by key regulatory bodies and flag states is signaling a mass migration to simulation augmented drills, translating into safer work environments and better trained coxswains. From a labour management and crewing perspective, the preferred use of simulation for both lifeboat and fast rescue boat training underscores a growing concern that training launches using operational equipment represents an unnecessary risk and undermine a safe work environment.
Boat Drills and Inherent Risks
Boat drills serve two main functions - to check equipment and to train crew. Even in the context of new safety measures approved by IMO, accidents during boat drills continue to occur, most during launch and recovery. In the event of a hook releasing unexpectedly, the boat falls into the water causing “fall from height” injuries. Frequently, these prove fatal. While the requirement to crew launch and recovery drill phases was removed by an amendment to the SOLAS convention in 2009 (ref: MSC.1/Circ.1326), unfortunately alternative methods to load the crew into the boat after it has been launched, have also proven risky.
IMO Sets a Precedent for “Alternate Compliance”
In 2015, IMO addressed concerns with lifeboat safety in the offshore industry by revising the MODU Code to allow alternate methods of complying with the requirement to conduct boat drills through MSC.397(94). The Organization issued guidelines to assist industry with implementation of alternate compliance to the boat drill requirements through MSC.1/Circ.1486. This led to a rapid increase in the adoption of lifeboat simulators, particularly portable desktop systems onboard drilling rigs and production platforms.
Alternate compliance under the MODU Code requires the implementation of enhanced maintenance and training programs to assure an equivalent level of safety is maintained to that achieved using conventional boat drills. In particular, simulation augmented drills are authorized and are recommended to ensure that competencies related to evacuation in rough seas are maintained, as per IMO Resolution A 28/Res. 1079.
IMO Enacts Additional Special Drills
Two years later, and in an effort to further improve safety during boat drills, IMO issued updated guidance on how to perform boat drills through MSC.1/Circ.1578. It emphasizes the need for safety and realism during boat drills and envisions the requirement for “additional special drills” to enable crew members to practice elements of the evacuation process which are too risky to perform while simultaneously checking equipment.
ISO Sets Stage for Simulation Alternative
Similarly, ISO is creating a standard called "Ships and Marine Technology - Virtual reality and simulation training systems for lifesaving appliances and arrangements.” The standard sets the performance criteria for systems that could be used in “additional special drills,” representing yet another key signal to the industry on ISO’s confidence in the technology and its ability to improve both safety and the effectiveness of training. First drafted in 2020, the new standard is currently in the Draft International Standard (DIS) phase and is scheduled to be formally ratified as ISO 5476.
Our Certifications
Effecting regulatory change to accommodate lifeboat simulation has not come about without effort. Virtual Marine has been a key driver of change at IMO, ABS, OPITO, DNV and a range of flag states. It has a certificate of compliance from DNV confirming its lifeboat simulators conform with Section A-I/12 of the STCW Code and with Class A requirements for Survival Craft simulators. VM’s proprietary and industry leading Advanced Coxswain Training (ACT) Program – the embedded curriculum for instructorless operation - is certified by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) as meeting the requirements of MSC.1/Circ.1486 as well as Paragraph 5 of Section A-VI/2 of the STCW Code. Virtual Marine’s Quality Assurance program conforms with ISO 9001: 2015.
Who’s Using Lifeboat Simulation Today?
Virtual Marine has a rapidly expanding user community spanning upstream energy, commercial shipping, defence and coast guard, ferry operators and maritime training segments. Applications cover a broad range of regulated training such as STCW and OPITO, to non-regulated elective workplace HSE training. Its range of simulators covers every budget, from desktop VR systems, all the way to full mission multi-person immersion cabins on motion systems, which can be found both ashore and at sea on fixed and floating assets.
Key operators such as ExxonMobil, Shell, Cenovus, Qatar Gas and Occidental, as well as upstream drilling companies Noble, Maersk Drilling, Transocean, Seadrill, Diamond Offshore and Valaris have embedded lifeboat coxswain training into their daily operations. Like many others in the user community, they are realizing the benefits of higher safety standards, better life of field economics and higher competency retention rates made possible through simulation. Virtual Marine’s customer base represents approximately 35% of the international Mobile Offshore Unit fleet.
To find out more about how simulation augmented drills can benefit your operations, contact us today at 1-709-738-6306 / sales@virtualmarine.ca and learn more at www.virtualmarine.ca.