This may be one of the most feared situations that sailors have, and man overboard survival techniques and training sessions are held during ship crewman training and on-board vessels a regular intervals. It could be a scary situation to have to deal with, but regular training help crewmen come to terms with the risks involved and how to survive as long as possible.

Most reported cases of man falling overboard are recorded during bad weather when rough waves sleep crew men on deck over board some times without other crew members realizing until an assembly is drawn when a crew member is realized to be overboard. There are many different techniques that are thought but the situation must be controlled by the crewman himself and all man overboard survival techniques he learned since the situation may be beyond the ship crew members capability and may be threatening the whole vessel.

Fortunately training drills are held to maintain that each crew member is equipped for the situation, being prepared at all times increases the chances for the man overboard survival chance. Since marine vessels are cumbersome and difficult to maneuver there is usually a smaller recovery boat that is station on the vessel that could be lowered in the water to rescue a man overboard. This method does not work in all situations and during severe storms since the safety of the other crewmen and vessel must be considered before launching a rescue attempt, and it is precisely for these situations a crewman is trained to survive and wait for help to come as it would be deployed as soon as the weather of situation is under control.

The first rule that crew men are advised to follow would be NOT to walk or move on deck alone, it is advised top always move in pairs on in a cluster of crewmen. This does not reduce the chance of a crewman being swept of board but it increases his chances of survival since a fellow crewman may notice when he goes over board and raise the alarm immediacy. Wondering on deck during bad weather would be highly risky since if the crewman is washed of board there may be no notice of his disappearance, and the vessel may continue on the voltage long after the crewman went overboard reducing his survival chance.

Since most man overboard situations are hardly ever planned for and most crewmen don’t carry cumbersome survival kits it could be a ride of your life, most survival kits carry basic food and water but they are meant for crew stranded on a life boat thus providing comfort surrounding that they can actually be used in a situation that the crewman is out in the open water the possibility of using the survival kit that you carry are greatly reduced since there is no place to put the contents. The best chance of a crew man overboard survival is to be rescues a fast as possible and this can only be done by the vessel you sail on and only if a fellow crewman sees you being washed of board and raises the alarm.