Module 20 - Special Situations Afloat
Skipper Priorities Under Pressure
What you will learn
Turn an evolving casualty into observable workstreams, protected roles and explicit escalation triggers rather than relying on a fixed priority slogan.
People come first, but emergency command is not a four-word queue. The skipper must control simultaneous threats to people, vessel state, navigation, communications and the next safe option.
Name the casualty and its immediate consequence in plain language: 'water still rising with the pump on', 'no directional control', or 'two crew symptomatic in the cockpit'. This produces a shared fact and is stronger than a broad label such as 'engine problem' or 'bad situation'.
Create workstreams that can run at once: people/first aid, vessel control, containment or technical response, navigation/lookout, communications and survival preparation. Protect the roles that prevent a second casualty. Short closed-loop instructions and a nominated person for each task reduce duplication and silent failure.
State the remaining margin as an observable boundary: time to a lee shore, water-level trend, battery state, fire spread, control response, weather window or crew endurance. Pair it with an action: call, anchor, turn away, stop diagnosis, prepare the raft or leave. Reassess when the boundary changes, not only when a scheduled checklist ends.
MAYDAY is for grave and imminent danger requiring immediate assistance; urgency communications apply when safety is threatened without that distress state. Use the current radio procedure and professional judgement. Calling early can be revised or cancelled as the situation improves; calling after communications or control is lost cannot recover the missing time.
| Workstream | Current fact | Change trigger |
|---|---|---|
| People | Count, injury/exposure and treatment | Deterioration or lost care capacity |
| Control | Heading, track, drift, depth and traffic | Loss of sea room or steerage |
| Containment | Source, level/rate and equipment state | Trend not controlled |
| Communications | Who knows, channel and power | Coverage or power threatened |
| Survival | Shelter, raft, beacons and access | Yacht becomes less safe than alternative |
Run a ninety-second command reset
The skipper hears three competing reports: a pump has started, the yacht is setting towards shoal water and a crew member is injured.
1. State facts
Confirm water trend, position/drift and casualty state without demanding a full diagnosis.
2. Protect roles
Name helm/lookout, containment, first aid and communications owners.
3. Name boundaries
Set the next water-level, position, time or casualty-change triggers.
4. Brief the next state
Say which trigger causes distress, anchoring, diversion, survival preparation or abandonment.
Sense check: The crew should be able to say who owns each threat and what observable change causes the plan to change.
Common mistake or limitation
- Treating people, vessel, environment and property as a strictly sequential list when threats interact.
- Giving every instruction personally but not assigning ownership or confirming it was understood.
- Using technical activity as proof of progress without measuring whether the threat is reducing.
- Leaving the distress or fallback threshold implicit until communications, sea room or crew capacity is lost.
Recap
- State observed consequences rather than broad casualty labels.
- Run people, control, containment, navigation, communications and survival workstreams together.
- Attach each workstream to an observable change trigger and next action.
- Use the correct urgency or distress procedure early enough to preserve coordination.
Optional quick check
Section 10 of 12
Which update gives an emergency team the most usable command picture?
Sources and factual review
Reviewed 20 August 2026 - Compass Revision editorial review.
Continue studying Special Situations Afloat
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