Ok. We all make errors and forget things, so I guess that makes us all stupid at different times in our lives. But when you are charging for a service, (and the Captain of a vessel), you have certain responsibilities to your crew, passengers and cargo. This is like the fact that we have a 'Fasten your seatbelt' sign on aeroplanes before taking off, but the hostess still walks around and checks compliance.
In the case of the barge, Yes- Perhaps they did not leave it in gear or the handbrake on. But the Captain is NOT supposed to leave until the rear ramp has been raised (just in case a vehicle moves). This procedure helps prevent unintended deaths that have occurred in the past (NSW and overseas).
The barge ramp moves up in line with the rest of the both side of the barge. As can be seen by the photo below, the Captain has driven away from the shore and failed to raise the rear ramp, and this has allowed a vehicle to be lost and could have easily resulted in tragic deaths had there been children in the vehicle. It was a good lesson for the barge operators to ensure that people and vehicles are well secured before moving away from the shore. I am pretty confident that the minute all the barge operators found out what had occurred, they immediately-
(1) Instructed the Deck Hands to check vehicles were in gear and handbrake on
(2) Ensured Deck Hands confirmed all vehicles are secured before moving away from the shore
(3) Ensured the rear ramp was FULLY raised before moving away from the shore
Having investigated these events in the past, I would be fairly confident in suggesting that the barge company has had a procedure in place stating the above three points for many years already and that the procedure was simply not followed.
Attachment 70449
