Emergency Contact Passenger’s Legs Caught in Unguarded Propeller Home Latest updates Publications Passenger’s Legs Caught in Unguarded Propeller 23 May 2014 Download page as PDF Sign up for alerts Category   Operations V essel type Passenger Vessels Issue date 23/08/2012 The below Case study has been taken from: Maritime New Zealand’s Lookout, Issue 25. The female passenger was with a party enjoying a dolphin-swimming charter tripaboard a 12 metre catamaran. The guide gave a detailed safety briefing about the trip and explained the procedure for getting in and out of the water, warning the swimmers about avoiding two propellers just below the surface at the rear of the boat. When the skipper located a pod of dolphins, he would position the boat about 250 metres ahead of it, put the vessel into neutral and then sound a horn to signal to the guide that it was now safe to enter the water. After their swim, the passengers would climb up a ladder in the centre of the stern and sit on the rear step as the skipper manoeuvred the vessel ahead of the dolphins, stopping about 300 metres in front of the pod. He would then put the engines into neutral and sound the horn. On this day, four of the six passengers were fitted with wetsuits and booties so they could enter the water with the dolphins. The four passengers moved to the step at the rear of the vessel. The guide removed a gate and directed them to sit on the step leading to a duck board across the stern, and then ease themselves into the water to avoid scaring the dolphins. As the woman entered the water, a propeller, still turning, hit her legs. She was knocked over to the left and, when she resurfaced, realised she had been seriously injured. The guide jumped into the water to help hold the woman up, while a knife was used to cut her free of the propeller. The woman was then lifted on board and first aid administered, while the vessel rushed to meet an ambulance at the nearest access point. The woman was airlifted