Emergency Stations on Ships and Muster List

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	3^rd 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 2^nd engineer. Ensure breaking of fire triangle, i.e. cutting of fuel and ventilation.	LB 2
8	V Dmello	4^th 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	2^nd 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	3^rd Engineer	Life boat engines and emergency generator, assist 2^nd Engineer	Emergency generator and support team	LB 1
10	Dezi	Fitter 2	Soundings E/R, assist 2^nd Engineer	Assist 2^nd Engineer, attack team	Liferaft 1, LB 1
24	Rebero	ER 3	Assist 2^nd Engineer.	Assist 2^nd Engineer.	LB 1, provision, water
5	Shri Ram	2^nd 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 2^nd officer	Report to 2^nd Officer, support team	LB 1, Brake, ladder
13	Vinay	Crew 2	To assist 2^nd officer	Report to 2^nd Officer, support team	LB 1 pass painter forward Bowsing tackles, Tricing pendants
20	P Desai	Saloon 1	Assist 2^nd 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 2^nd officer	Assist 2^nd 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 3^rd 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.