Marine Accident Investigation Procedures Flashcards
7 cards from real CMI practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Marine Accident Investigation Procedures flashcards as text
When documenting a casualty scene aboard a vessel, which photographic practice is considered best evidence procedure?
Answer: Photographing from general overview to close-up detail with a scale reference in each frame
Best evidence photography proceeds from wide establishing shots to close-up details, always including a scale reference, to provide both context and precise dimensional information.
In conducting a 'fault tree analysis' (FTA) of a marine accident, the top event represents:
Answer: The undesired outcome (the accident) from which the investigator reasons backward
In FTA, the top event is the accident itself, and the analysis works backward (deductively) through AND/OR logic gates to identify causal combinations.
A marine casualty investigator determines that a collision occurred partly because the watch officer suffered from acute fatigue. Under which analytical framework would 'inadequate rest period scheduling' be identified as a latent condition?
Answer: James Reason's Swiss Cheese Model
James Reason's Swiss Cheese Model classifies inadequate organizational policies (like insufficient rest scheduling) as latent conditions — hidden failures lurking in the system before they align to produce an accident.
Which criterion determines whether a marine casualty must be reported to the U.S. Coast Guard under 46 CFR 4.05-1?
Answer: The casualty results in a death, injury requiring medical treatment beyond first aid, loss of the vessel, or material damage exceeding $25,000
46 CFR 4.05-1 mandates reporting when a casualty causes a death, injury requiring beyond first-aid treatment, loss of vessel, or property damage exceeding $25,000.
During a stability-related casualty investigation, which document is most critical for reconstructing the vessel's stability condition at the time of the accident?
Answer: The loading computer printout or stability booklet with actual departure/arrival loading conditions
The actual loading data from the stability booklet or loading computer provides the righting arm and metacentric height values needed to reconstruct the vessel's stability at the time of the casualty.
What is the key distinction between a 'safety investigation' and a 'legal/enforcement investigation' in the context of U.S. marine casualties?
Answer: Safety investigations aim to prevent recurrence without assigning blame, while legal investigations seek to establish liability or culpability
Safety investigations focus on identifying systemic causes and issuing preventive recommendations, whereas legal/enforcement investigations determine fault, liability, or criminal culpability.
Under the ISM Code, which document provides the foundational framework that a vessel's Safety Management System must follow, and is directly referenced when assessing SMS failures during a marine accident investigation?
Answer: ISM Code (International Safety Management Code), adopted under SOLAS Chapter IX
The ISM Code, incorporated into SOLAS Chapter IX, requires companies to develop, implement, and maintain a Safety Management System; its requirements become the standard against which SMS failures are measured in investigations.