Man-Over-Board Recovery Cage

Marine Services played a major role in the development of a new Man-Over-Board Recovery Cage which has been specifically designed to allow a casualty to swim into the cage with relative ease and remain safe until retrieval is complete. In April 2006, the recovery cage won the Seatrade Award for excellence in the Safety at Sea category.

Background

Recovering someone from the water is difficult on any vessel and on the high sided fishing vessels of today it can be nearly impossible without the right equipment. Once a person has been in the water for even just a few minutes, the cold numbs their hands and reduces their strength such that they cannot hold onto a rope or tie it around themselves. Several instances have occured in which crewmen drowned alongside the vessel whilst their crewmates tried desperately to get them back on board.

The Fishing Vessel (Life-Saving Appliances) (Amendment) Regulations 1998 require new fishing vessels over 15 metres and existing vessels over 18 metres to be fitted with an adequate means of recovering a person from the water.

Various rescue systems were available but none appeared ideal for shelterdeck fishing vessels so retired Peterhead Skipper Rob Reid came up with a simple solution that consisted of a tubular frame cage with a netting base and floats at the side. Seafish staff witnessed a demonstration of an early protoype and realised that it would be suitable for many fishing vessels. As such, Seafish decided to work with Rob Reid to develop and prove the recovery cage. Drawings were prepared and North East Fabricators Limited at Boyndie (near Banff) was chosen to make new prototypes. Tank tests were carried out in the large wave tank at Lowestoft Maritime College and the results used to improve the design further.

Points of interest

• The cage has an aluminium tube base frame rigged with netting and two low-hinged side frames carrying floats.
• It measures just 2 x 0.9 x 0.25 metres when folded and North East Fabricators have designed and manufactured a box to enable it to be neatly stored on a vessel.
• Each cage is tested and marked with a SWL of 300kg.
• The cage is big enough to hold two persons, enabling it to be used to safely lower a rescuer to save an unconscious person.
• The first commercial versions of the cage have been sold to large pelagic vessels but it is suitable, and will possibly fit, on vessels down to 15 metres in length or less.

For further details, please contact Marine Services (details on Contact page).