Part 1 - Merchant Vessels - Marine Accident Investigation Branch

of the majority of seafarers particularly if there
is any kind of sea running (why complicate
with davits and release systems). If there is
one lesson that should be learnt from the last
twenty fi ve years it is ‘Keep it Simple’.
Coming back to the Safety Digest, poor planning
and lack of communication appear to be a
regular feature and in one case this results in
the unfortunate death of an engineering offi cer.
Disturbing is the number of cases where Senior
Offi cers are involved who should know better
and lead by example. Post incident actions by
well trained personnel also never fail to surprise
and shipping needs to work harder at developing
the checklist discipline achieved by the airline
industry.
Nigel Adams
We all make mistakes. Learning from other
people’s mistakes is an important part of loss
prevention and the effort made by the MAIB in
summarising the key points of the main reports
through this publication is to be commended.
Nigel Adams started his career as a Deck Cadet with the P&O Group in 1974. As a group cadet
he spent time on various ship types, however on obtaining his 2nd Mates Certifi cate, he joined
the bulk division and spent all his time at sea on tankers, bulk carriers and LPG/LNG carriers.
He obtained his Master’s Certifi cate 1985 and was promoted to Master in 1988. He came ashore in
1992 and worked as Marine Surveyor/consultant with Cargo Analytics Ltd in Glasgow. This involved
safety inspections, cargo survey work, accident and incident investigation, port captaincy and usual
wide range of work involved with this type of position.
He then joined Acomarit as Marine Superintendent in 1994 with special responsibilities for the oil
spill compliance programme and contingency planning. In 1996 his responsibilities increased to
take on the safety and risk role for all of the Acomarit Group fl eet and as a member of the company
contingency team he was heavily involved in the ‘Sea Empress’ response in Milford Haven in 1996.
This incident led to the introduction of the SOSREP. V.Ships took over Acomarit in 2001 and after a
spell in the integration team Nigel was appointed Risk, Safety and Quality Director for V.Ships Ship
Management Division.
In 2007, he was appointed Group Risk Director, however in 2008 for health reasons this post had
to be relinquished.
Nigel is still working full time in V.Ships mainly focussing on projects and new regulation compliance.
In his time ashore he was involved with the following committees and working group: Intertanko
Safety, Technical and Environmental Committee; Informal Tanker Safety Offi cers Forum; Intertanko
Lifeboat Working Group; Founding Maritime Board Member of Confi dential Hazardous Incident
Reporting Programme (CHIRP); Chairman of Intertanko Pilot Working Group.
MAIB Safety Digest 1/2012
9