SECTION 4 - Marine Accident Investigation Branch

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1.17 MUSTER/EMERGENCY PLANS
The muster/emergency plan provided lifeboat and liferaft allocations, as well as
details of the crew’s emergency stations and individual duties. It also included
instructions for discharging those duties. An individual’s training requirement for his/
her emergency role was largely based on this information.
Muster plan Versions 1-4 were developmental and the cancelled shakedown cruise
imposed further late changes to the crew profile. Version 5 was the muster plan
developed for sailing from Palermo to Southampton which was approved by GL.
Crew members assigned a number up to 308 on the crew list, were allocated a
muster duty. Crew members allocated number 309 and upwards were considered to
be supernumerary and not given a muster plan duty.
As the final approved lifeboat-carrying capacity was received from the Malta
administration, the muster plan was further revised. Version 6 was sent to the ship
on 22 March for comment, together with an instruction for the STO to train to the
duties specified on the plan. The plan was further updated to Version 7 but this
became invalid when the Malta administration again refined the lifeboat-carrying
capacities. This resulted in Version 8 of the muster plan being sent to the ship,
electronically, on 23 March so that the training requirement could be further refined.
GL approved Version 8 on 26 March, which was the muster plan in use when the
vessel sailed from Southampton on 3 April.
1.18 TRAINING
1.18.1 Organisation
Within the Saga fleet, the ship’s SO was responsible to the master for the
management of all aspects of onboard crew training (See Section 1.15.1). When
conducting training sessions, he was assisted by officers of the deck and
engineering departments. The company also contracted a specialist fire-fighting
training team which was used on all Saga vessels to ensure crews were trained to a
consistent level.
The company’s STO complemented the ship’s SO in his crew training role. He was
accountable to, and was managed by, the Marine and Port Manager. While on
board, the STO was directly accountable to the master but was required to liaise
with the ship’s SO. He was also required to provide a progress report, each month
by e-mail, to the Marine and Port Manager so that future training could be targeted
to particular areas of concern.
The identification of shore-based training requirements was the responsibility of the
company’s Marine Safety Officer. He worked with the shore-based departmental
personnel supervisors, to ensure that new crew had the correct STCW basic training
and certification for their role. Where there was a shortfall he would, where possible,
arrange the appropriate training before the crew joined a vessel.
1.18.2 Operational ships - training requirement
The annual, routine safety drill requirement was produced by the company’s Marine
Safety Officer and was laid out in Section 6 of the SMS.