Pilot died in fall from ship’s ladder after wrongly being passed fit, probe finds; he was "obese"

Pilot died in fall from ship’s ladder after wrongly being passed fit, probe finds
Gary Dixon 22 January 2026, https://www.tradewindsnews.com/casualties/pilot-died-in-fall-from-ship-s...

The Humber Saturn pilot boat alongside the Finnhawk. Photo: Michael Ludlow/Marine Traffic
Investigators also find fault with recovery platform used after accident

A pilot who fell to his death from a ro-ro ladder should not have been passed fit for work, an accident investigation found.

The unnamed pilot suffered a likely “cardiac event” while attempting to board Finnlines’ 1,890-lane-metre Finnhawk (built 2001) from the 15-metre pilot vessel Humber Saturn (built 2006) in the approaches to the Humber Estuary, eastern England, on 8 January 2023.

The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) said the man hit the deck of the Humber Saturn before falling into the water and losing consciousness.

He was quickly recovered onto the smaller ship’s semi-submerged man overboard recovery platform.

This could not be raised, however, and the pilot remained semi-immersed in cold water for more than 40 minutes until he could be transferred to a lifeboat.

A coastguard helicopter eventually took him to hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

MAIB said: “The seafarer’s medical certificate issued to the pilot six months before the accident should not have declared him fully fit for duty, given that he suffered from several chronic health conditions that might have affected his fitness to perform his role.”

A postmortem examination noted that the pilot’s medical history included high cholesterol, heart disease and hypertension, heart failure, stroke, chronic kidney disease and lower back pain.

His body mass index indicated that he was obese.

The man’s head was uninjured in the fall, but his thoracic spine had been fractured.

This indicated that his torso had probably absorbed much of the force when he landed on the pilot vessel.

“There was compelling pathological evidence that the pilot was at risk of a sudden cardiac event occurring at any time, and without warning,” the MAIB said.

“Although a scenario where the pilot accidentally lost his footing or grip on the pilot ladder could not be discounted, in purely pathological terms it is entirely possible that [the pilot] suffered a sudden cardiac arrhythmia which caused him to let go and enter the water.”

The probe also found that the recovery platform had defects that probably rendered it incapable of lifting, reducing the pilot’s chance of survival.

And the port authority’s “stop work” procedure was unsuccessful in preventing the pilot from working on the day of the accident, despite several interventions and concerns about his fitness being raised by colleagues.

Associated British Ports has been recommended to review its risk assessment and, where necessary, update its pilots’ personal protective equipment to improve their survivability in cold water and align their safety training with industry guidance.

Port and industry bodies have also been urged to issue guidance on the setting of occupational standards for marine pilots and the provision of suitable personal protective equipment.

The chief inspector of marine accidents, Andrew Moll, said: “Pilot transfers are challenging and potentially hazardous, and fortunately most are conducted without incident.

“Tragically, however, on 8 January 2023 this was not the case and a respected and experienced marine pilot lost his life.

“While superficially this was a simple accident, our investigation identified safety concerns across the training, equipment, medical standards and emergency response, and this report addresses all of these.”

Moll explained that while the MAIB has been encouraged by the actions of the port and industry bodies to address these safety issues, he was strongly urging all harbour authorities with a pilotage service to learn the lessons of this accident and take action.