Why davit failures kill crews who did everything “by the book”
Category: ON DECK → Launch & Recovery
Estimated read time: 65–80 minutes
Audience: Zero knowledge → competent AB → junior officer → senior deck officer
Introduction – The most dangerous routine job on deck
Launching and recovering boats is one of the most hazardous routine operations carried out at sea. Lifeboats, rescue boats, and tenders are handled frequently, often in marginal weather, and usually with people inside. The operation feels procedural — step-by-step, checklist-driven, familiar.
That familiarity is exactly what makes it dangerous.
Boat launch accidents rarely stem from gross negligence. They stem from small misunderstandings of load transfer, brake behaviour, and timing, compounded by the belief that compliance equals safety.
What actually happens during a launch
When a boat is lowered, the davit brake controls descent by converting motion into heat — exactly like a windlass. As the boat approaches the water, buoyancy begins to act upward while the davit still applies downward control. This transition zone is where most failures occur.
If the brake is not perfectly managed, the load can momentarily reduce and then reapply suddenly as the boat contacts the water. That reapplication introduces shock loading into falls, hooks, and structural members.
From the deck, it looks like a gentle splash.
From the system’s perspective, it is a violent force reversal.
Recovery: the phase crews underestimate
Recovering a boat is often more dangerous than launching it. As the boat lifts clear of the water, it transitions from buoyant support to full suspension. If the timing is wrong, the davit takes the entire load abruptly.
This is where worn falls, marginal hooks, and poorly maintained brakes are exposed. Many fatal accidents have occurred during recovery — not because procedures were ignored, but because system condition was overestimated.
🔻 Real-World Failure: Fatal Lifeboat Drill on Board Maersk Cardiff
In February 2015, a routine lifeboat drill on board the container vessel Maersk Cardiff resulted in the death of a crew member when the ship’s free-fall lifeboat fell unexpectedly during recovery. The vessel was alongside, the drill was planned, and the crew involved were experienced and following company procedures. There was no severe weather, no emergency, and no deviation from what had been done many times before.
During the recovery phase, the lifeboat detached from the davit system and dropped suddenly. Investigations later identified issues related to the release mechanism and load transfer during recovery, not structural failure of the davit itself. The equipment had passed previous inspections. The system had “worked last time”.
That final point is critical.
The failure did not occur during launch, when crews are most alert and cautious. It occurred during recovery — the phase widely perceived as safer, slower, and more controlled. The moment the boat transitioned from buoyant support to full suspension, the system behaved differently than expected. There was no time for reaction, correction, or escape.
What makes this case especially instructive is that nothing dramatic preceded the failure. No alarms. No visible deformation. No warning signs that could be recognised in time. The assumptions were reasonable, the paperwork was valid, and the operation was familiar. Those factors did not prevent the fatal outcome.
Subsequent industry-wide investigations and safety circulars confirmed a recurring theme across multiple lifeboat and rescue-boat fatalities:
the weakest point is often not the davit arm, but the hooks, release gear, falls, and the exact moment of load transfer — especially during drills.
This case reinforces a hard operational truth for deck crews:
Lifeboat systems do not fail because crews ignore procedures.
They fail because crews trust systems that appear normal right up until the instant they are not.
That is why boat launch and recovery operations demand the same discipline, exclusion zones, and scepticism as any heavy lift — even when the task feels routine, supervised, and familiar.
Hooks, falls, and the illusion of redundancy
Boat launching systems appear redundant — twin falls, safety devices, interlocks. In reality, many of these components are mechanically linked. A single misalignment, worn pin, or unintended release can remove multiple layers of protection at once.
Understanding this from zero knowledge is critical. Redundancy on paper does not always translate to redundancy in reality.
Human positioning: where survival is decided
Boat launch accidents often involve people standing directly beneath suspended loads, between boat and ship, or within the arc of swinging davits. These positions feel necessary to “guide” the operation.
They are also the positions from which escape is impossible if something fails.
Experienced deck crews enforce strict exclusion zones during launch and recovery, even when it slows the operation. Speed has never saved anyone in a davit failure.
Knowledge to Carry Forward
Boat launch and recovery failures are not rare anomalies — they are well-documented, repeatable patterns. They occur at the moment when load transfers between systems and human judgement fills the gaps between procedures. Competent deck officers respect these transition points, maintain conservative positioning, and treat every launch as if the system could fail without warning.
Tags
On Deck, Launch and Recovery, Davits, Lifeboats, Rescue Boats, Stored Energy, Brake Failure, Human Positioning, Deck Safety, Failure Modes