The shipboard emergencies must be tackled in most efficient ways with minimum wastage of time. All the efforts must be done in appropriate direction. The most important are the initial and immediate 3 or 4 actions. 5 teams are made to tackle the emergencies. All the team incharges must precisely know their duties in the different emergencies. The relevant detailed duties must be stated in the ISM documents. The crew members however, must not get confused in respect of their duties in the different emergencies. I have described the following emergencies with recommended signals. It is worth training the crew to exactly understand these signals. The idea being less confusion and less wastage of time. The duties assigned to the crew are of a general nature, it may be devised tailor made according to the type of ship and the kind of life saving equipment.
Emergency | Alarm, Whistle | Spoken words |
1. Bilging | Continuous sounding of ship’s electrical bell or ship’s whistle for not less than 10 seconds | |
2. Collision | Continuous sounding of ship’s electrical bell or ship’s whistle for not less than 10 seconds | Collision at…. |
3. Fire | Continuous sounding of ship’s electrical bell or ship’s whistle for not less than 10 seconds | Fire at…….. |
4. Boat Station/ Abandon ship | 7 short ringing of the bell followed by a long ring or on the ship’s whistle: 7 short blasts followed by 1 long blast. This is just for assembling at boat stations. Abandon ship order is the spoken order by Master. | Verbal order by Master |
5. Steering Failure | Continuous sounding of ship’s electrical bell or ship’s whistle for not less than 10 seconds | Steering Failed |
6. Man Overboard | Vessel’s internal alarm bell for 3 long rings, with 3 long blasts on ship whistle | Man overboard on ….side |
7. Oil Pollution | Continuous sounding of ship’s electrical bell or ship’s whistle for not less than 10 seconds | Oil pollution at no. ..side |
8. Grounding | Continuous sounding of ship’s electrical bell or ship’s whistle for not less than 10 seconds |

Sr. No | Name | Rank | General Stations | Fire Stations | Lifeboat Stations |
Continuous sounding of ship’s electric bell or ship’s whistle for not less than 10 seconds | Continuous sounding of ship’s electric bell or ship’s whistle for not less than 10 seconds | 7 short ringing of electric bell followed by prolonged ringing of same bell or 7 short blasts followed by a long blast on the ship’s whistle | |||
1 | S. Clive | Master | Overall In charge Station at Bridge. Reduce speed and adjust heading considering the emergency. Prepare for transmission of distress / Urgency message (standardized format) Prepare for record keeping Follow-up actions. Call for external response (if necessary) | Overall In charge Station at Bridge.Reduce speed and adjust the heading considering the direction of wind, the smoke, etc. Assessment of stability, stresses, etc in consultation with Chief Officer. | Overall In charge Station at Bridge. Reduce speed and adjust heading considering emergency. LB 1 |
6 | M. Reddy | 3rd Officer | Assist Master in communication, navigation and record keeping. | Assist Master in communication, navigation and record keeping. | Assist Master in communication, documents, LB 2 |
16 | S. Raman | 1 H/man | On bridge | On bridge | On bridge, LB 2 |
2 | S. Krish | Ch Officer | Incharge of the Attack Team.Briefing of specific duties after head count. At site, damage assessment. Monitor any pollution. | In charge of the Attack TeamCh off. with crew 3, 4 & 5 and saloon 3 and 4 provide local fire fighting, boundary cooling, etc | In charge Lifeboat 2 Assign duties and report to bridge. |
9 | B. Dsouza | Fitter1 | Deck, Assist Ch Officer at site | Attack Team team, SCBA | LB 2 Brake |
17 | M Hafeez | Crew 3 | Soundings. Assist Chief Officer at site. | Assist Ch Officer, Fire hose, nozzles, (attack team) | LB 2 pass painter forward Bowsing tackles, Tricing pendants |
18 | C. Suresh | Crew 4 | Assist Chief Officer at site. | Assist Ch Officer SCBA, fire suit, at site, (attack team) | LB 2 Make fast painter, Gripes, Harbour safety pin, Bowsing tackles |
19 | Antony | Crew 5 | Assist Chief Office at site. | Assist Ch Officer, Fire hose (attack team) | LB 2 plug. Bowsing tackles Tricing Pendants |
22 | Robert | Salon 3 | Assist Ch off at site | Assist Ch Officer at site, fire hose | LB 2. Ladder, equipment, secure Bowsing tackle |
23 | Visoo | Salon 4 | Assist Ch off at site | Assist Ch Officer at site, portable fire extinguisher. | LB 2. Equipment, radio |
3 | S Rajan | Ch Engineer | Overall In charge E/R, briefing of specific duties after muster. | In charge of engine room party. In communication with Master and 2nd engineer. Ensure breaking of fire triangle, i.e. cutting of fuel and ventilation. | LB 2 |
8 | V Dmello | 4th Engineer | Head Count & Assist Chief Engineer in E/R | Assist Chief Engineer, Quick closing valves, Fire dampers. | Liferaft 2, LB 2 |
14 | Haneef | ER 1 | To assist Chief Engineer in E/R | Engine room team, with Ch Engineer | Liferaft 2, LB 2, water, provision |
15 | Joseph | ER 2 | To assist Chief Engineer in E/R | Engine room team, with Ch Engineer | LB 1, Provision, equipment |
11 | Bangera | Electrician | Emergency lights, Batteries | LB 1, emergency lights | |
4 | S. Robert | 2nd Engineer | Pumping out arrangement, Technical supervision at damage site, emergency fire pump | Assist Ch Officer in attack team, Emergency Fire pump | Life raft 1, LB 1 |
7 | Victor M | 3rd Engineer | Life boat engines and emergency generator, assist 2nd Engineer | Emergency generator and support team | LB 1 |
10 | Dezi | Fitter 2 | Soundings E/R, assist 2nd Engineer | Assist 2nd Engineer, attack team | Liferaft 1, LB 1 |
24 | Rebero | ER 3 | Assist 2nd Engineer. | Assist 2nd Engineer. | LB 1, provision, water |
5 | Shri Ram | 2nd Officer | Head Count, Back up to Ch off with medical first aid or Lifeboat preparation. | In charge of support team and rescue boat duties | In charge Lifeboat 1 |
12 | Suresh | Crew 1 | Stretcher and to assist 2nd officer | Report to 2nd Officer, support team | LB 1, Brake, ladder |
13 | Vinay | Crew 2 | To assist 2nd officer | Report to 2nd Officer, support team | LB 1 pass painter forward Bowsing tackles, Tricing pendants |
20 | P Desai | Saloon 1 | Assist 2nd officer | Assist Chief Officer, SCBA bottles (attack team) | LB 1 Make fast painter, Gripes, Harbour safety pin, Bowsing tackles |
21 | P Dcruz | Saloon 2 | Assist 2nd officer | Assist 2nd officer, stretcher, support team | LB 1 plugs, Bowsing tackles Tricing Pendants |

In all the situations where the ship’s safety is endangered the lifejacket must be carried for muster. This is because as the situation graves, one may not get time to return to his cabin to get the life jacket.
The common features of the various actions in the different emergencies are as follows:
- The 5 teams made to do various duties are same in all emergencies.
- The muster points: one on deck near damage; and the other at scheduled location in engine room, are same always.
- In all emergencies the team leader briefs the team about specific duties.
- There is always a specific maneuver of engines, performed in most emergencies.
- The 3rd officer always has the same duty to perform.
- The various parties to be informed about the emergency are the same.
- Emergency Response Services are informed about the emergency and subsequent progress.
- A report is always made about the onboard situation and external help required, sent to owners and the helping body.
- Report regarding the condition of class, non conformity and change of ‘Mayday / Urgency status’ is always made.





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