Man Overboard: Turns, Initial Action and Recovery

The three MOB situations

In short: Read Emergency Organisation: Alarms, Musters and Drills first. Every man overboard (MOB) falls into one of three situations, and the situation decides your manoeuvre (IAMSAR Vol. III).

• Immediate action (witnessed): someone on the bridge or on deck sees the person go over, and you act at once. The casualty is close and usually still in sight.
• Delayed action: a witness reports it to the bridge and action starts some time later. The casualty is already well astern.
• Person missing: nobody saw the fall. The person is reported missing on board, and you do not know when or where they went over.
• First question to ask yourself: witnessed or not witnessed? If the fall was seen, you turn now; if not, you first work out when the person was last seen.

On the bridge: person missing

• At 0400 the relieving AB doesn’t turn up. Search the ship (cabins, decks, machinery spaces) by PA and muster.
• Not found: find the last time and place the person was seen, plot that part of the track, inform the master and the MRCC, and go back along your reciprocal track.

Initial action: the first minute

In short: Lifebuoy over, alarm, hand steering, MOB button, start the turn. Then position and time, master, look-outs, radio message, engines ready, boat ready, portable VHFs, ladder (IAMSAR Vol. III, ship’s emergency checklist).

1. Throw a lifebuoy with self-igniting light and smoke signal, on the side the person fell. It marks the spot and gives the person something to hold.
2. Raise the alarm: three prolonged blasts on the whistle, repeated (— — — is Morse O, “Oscar”), the general/MOB alarm and a PA call with the side. By day hoist flag O = “Man overboard” (International Code of Signals).
3. Engage hand steering.
4. Press the MOB button on GNSS/ECDIS: it records the datum.
5. Start the recovery manoeuvre (next section).
6. Note position, wind speed and direction, and time.
7. Inform the master (and the engine room).
8. Post look-outs: one person whose only job is to keep the casualty in sight and keep pointing at them. Lose sight once and you may never find them again.
9. Radio: an urgency or distress message, depending on the case (see Distress Signals); tell the MRCC and ships nearby.
10. Engines ready for manoeuvring.
11. Prepare the rescue boat or lifeboat for possible launching.
12. Hand out portable VHF radios to the look-outs, boat crew and recovery team.
13. Rig a ladder (pilot or embarkation ladder, scrambling net) and the recovery equipment on the chosen side.

• Exact order may vary with the ship; the first four happen in seconds and often at the same time.
• Where it comes from: IAMSAR Vol. III and the bridge emergency checklists (ICS Bridge Procedures Guide).

Recovery turns: Anderson, Williamson, Scharnow

In short: Three standard turns (IAMSAR Vol. III). Anderson = fastest, for a person still in sight. Williamson = brings you back down your own track; works in all three situations and in poor visibility. Scharnow = back into your own wake with less distance run, but never for immediate action. In an immediate action, turn towards the side the person fell: it swings the stern and propeller away from them.

Anderson turn (single turn, “one turn”)

• Rudder hard over (immediate action: to the side of the casualty).
• After the heading has changed about 250°, rudder midships and start the stopping manoeuvre (IAMSAR Vol. III).
• ✅ Fastest recovery method.
• ✅ Best for ships with tight turning characteristics and considerable power.
• ❌ Very difficult for a single-screw ship.
• ❌ The approach is not straight: harder to judge the final run-in to the casualty.
• Use it when the person is still in sight (immediate action).

Williamson turn

• Rudder hard over (immediate action: to the side of the casualty).
• After 60° off the original course, rudder hard over to the other side.
• When the heading is 20° short of the reciprocal, rudder midships and let her settle on the reciprocal course (IAMSAR Vol. III).
• ✅ Brings the ship back onto her original track line: you search down the track the person fell from.
• ✅ Good in reduced visibility and at night; simple to remember.
• ❌ Takes the ship farther away from the scene at first.
• ❌ Slow procedure.
• Use it for immediate action, delayed action and person missing — the usual choice when you don’t know exactly when the person went over.

Worked example

• Course 000°, person falls over the starboard side.
• Hard a-starboard. At 060°: hard a-port.
• She swings back through north to the west. At 200° (20° short of 180°): midships.
• Steady on 180°: you are now running down your old track.

Scharnow turn

• Rudder hard over.
• After 240° off the original course, rudder hard over to the other side.
• When the heading is 20° short of the reciprocal, rudder midships (IAMSAR Vol. III).
• ✅ Takes the ship back into her own wake: less distance covered, time saved compared with the Williamson.
• ❌ Not for immediate action: by the time she is back in her wake she is past a person who fell a moment ago.
• ❌ Only effective if you know the time between the fall and the start of the turn.
• Use it for delayed action, when the casualty is well astern and the time of the fall is known.
• Spelling: Scharnow (often misspelt “Scharnov”).

Worked example

• Course 000°. Hard a-starboard. At 240°: hard a-port.
• At 200° (20° short of 180°): midships, steady on 180°, in your own wake.

Which turn when

• Sources differ on the finer ranking (some list the Scharnow for person missing, others only the Williamson); all agree the Anderson is for a casualty in sight and the Scharnow never for immediate action.

Factors that affect the speed of recovery

In short: Six things decide how fast you get the person back (IAMSAR Vol. III): manoeuvring characteristics, wind and sea state, visibility, crew experience, location of the incident, other vessels assisting.

• Manoeuvring characteristics: turning circle, power, single or twin screw, how fast she stops. A big single-screw ship cannot do a tight Anderson.
• Wind and sea state: the casualty drifts with wind and current; heavy seas make a boat launch and recovery dangerous.
• Visibility: day or night, fog, rain. Poor visibility → Williamson.
• Crew experience: drilled crews launch and recover faster. MOB drills are part of the ship’s routine.
• Location: open sea or traffic lane, distance from SAR helicopters and lifeboats.
• Other vessels assisting: a nearby yacht, tender or fast rescue boat may reach the person first.

Search patterns if the person is not found

In short: No casualty at the end of the turn? Start a search from the datum (the MOB position, corrected for drift). For one ship and a small area, the two patterns are the expanding square and the sector search (IAMSAR Vol. III). More on radar use in Radar in Search and Rescue.

• Expanding square (SS): start at the datum and steer outwards in squares. Every turn is 90°; the legs grow by one track spacing every two legs. Use it when the position is known within close limits. The first leg is usually into the wind.
• Sector search (VS): the ship crosses the datum again and again on different headings, covering a circle around it. Turns are 120°. Use it when the position is known accurately and the area is small — typical for a MOB.
• Mark the datum with a buoy or smoke float so you can see the pattern centre.
• If others join, the MRCC or an on-scene coordinator (OSC) takes over and may assign parallel track searches.
• The person in the water may have a personal AIS-SART, PLB or MOB beacon: see EPIRB, SART and Receiving a DSC Distress Alert.

Getting the person back on board

In short: Every SOLAS ship must have ship-specific plans and procedures for recovering persons from the water (SOLAS III/17-1, in force 1 July 2014). UK guidance is MGN 544 (M+F) Amd 1, which repeats the IMO guidelines MSC.1/Circ.1447 in Annex 1.

• Final approach: come up slowly, make a lee for the casualty, and stop with the person alongside, well forward of the propeller. Stop the engines when close.
• Ship or boat? In good weather the rescue boat is often quicker and gentler. SOLAS ships built after 1 July 1986 carry at least one rescue boat (MGN 544 (M+F) Amd 1).
• Means of recovery: rescue boat, scrambling net, recovery sling or basket, pilot/embarkation ladder, davit or crane with a recovery device. The plan says which, where and who.
• Horizontal lift: recover a casualty in a horizontal or near-horizontal (“deck-chair”) position where possible. A vertical lift after time in cold water can cause collapse and cardiac arrest (MSC.1/Circ.1447). Then treat for Evacuation, Environmental Injuries and Death at Sea.
• Crew safety: the plan must include measures to minimise the risk to the crew doing the recovery (lifejackets, harnesses, lifelines). The master decides whether to start or continue the recovery.
• Drills: the MCA may ask for a MOB drill lifting a 100 kg bulk weight or manikin in a safe and controlled way (MGN 544 (M+F) Amd 1).
• After recovery: first aid, log every event with times, report to the company and the MRCC, and cancel any urgency or distress message.