A Ukrainian man who drowned after falling from a container ship in Dublin Port died as a result of the “safety attitudes” held by ship leaders, an inquest has heard.
Oleksandr Kondrashyn, the chief engineer of the Samskip Express, arrived from Rotterdam near midnight on January 11th, 2018, before he and his ship master socialised with the master of another ship, the Elbtrader.
After spending several hours on board the Elbtrader, Mr Kondrashyn and his ship master proceeded to return to the Samskip Express shortly before 4.45am, a sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court heard on Friday.
The inquest heard that a seaman on board the Elbtrader was preparing a gangway to allow them to disembark safely. However, both “did not wait” and instead proceeded to disembark by climbing over the ship’s side rail.
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The 58-year-old from Mariupol fell into the water as he attempted to step directly on to the quay from the vessel. Attempts were made by the crew to remove him from the water but they were unable to do so.
Emergency services arrived about 15 minutes later at 5am, before retrieving Mr Kondrashyn who was found face down in the water. Resuscitation attempts were made before he was transferred to the Mater hospital, presenting in full cardiac arrest, while his temperature was recorded below 32 degrees. He was pronounced deceased shortly after 6am.
Ian Wallace, chief marine engineer with the Marine Survey Office, who outlined several breaches in safety regulations and legislation, described CCTV footage showing Mr Kondrashyn disappearing “in an instant”.
A separate investigation carried out by the Marine Accident and Incident Investigation Committee of Cyprus concluded that the root cause of Mr Kondrashyn’s death was the safety attitude among both ship masters.
It noted that Mr Kondrashyn and both ship masters boarded and disembarked by climbing the rail rather than using the gangway. It described the practice as a “routine, widespread violation” that was condoned by both masters.
The committee referenced inadequate real-time risk assessment and a “faulty evaluation” that led to Mr Kondrashyn’s fall and subsequent drowning.
It noted multiple contributory factors including environmental conditions such as the tide, inadequate supervision and a lack of assertiveness by the gangway watchman who, it said, failed to show persistence in ensuring the vessel was boarded and disembarked safely.
The committee could not rule out alcohol consumption as a contributing factor in the absence of a toxicology report.
A postmortem read out during the inquest noted fluid in Mr Kondrashyn’s lungs alongside a blood-alcohol level of 208mg, with coroner Dr Myra Cullinane noting that one alcoholic drink is roughly 25mg. “That is not scientific but it gives an indication of the amount of alcohol that may have been ingested,” she said.
The inquest was adjourned until a later date.
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