ROV Incident Reports: How to Write One Correctly (With Template)

Nobody enjoys writing incident reports, but a well-written report protects you, your team, and your employer in ways that become apparent only when things escalate. A poor incident report — vague, incomplete, or defensively written — often creates more problems than the incident itself.

What Counts as a Reportable Incident in ROV Operations

Not every equipment fault or dive deviation requires a formal incident report, but the threshold is lower than most teams think. Report any of the following:

• Any personnel injury, however minor
• Near-miss events — situations that could have resulted in injury or significant damage
• Loss of ROV control underwater for any duration
• Umbilical damage or entanglement
• Significant equipment failure during a dive
• Any dive that deviated materially from the planned scope
• Environmental releases (hydraulic fluid, etc.)
• Any situation where the client or supervisor had to make a non-routine decision

The Core Structure of a Good Incident Report

A well-structured incident report answers six questions in order:

• What happened? — factual description of the event, no interpretation
• When and where? — exact time, location, dive number, environmental conditions
• Who was involved? — personnel present and their roles
• What were the immediate consequences? — damage, injury, operational impact
• What was the immediate response? — actions taken at the time of the incident
• What is the corrective action? — steps taken or planned to prevent recurrence

Write Facts, Not Interpretations

The most common mistake in incident reports is mixing factual description with interpretation or explanation. Write what happened — not why you think it happened.

• WRONG: 'The thruster failed because it wasn't maintained properly.'
• RIGHT: 'Thruster 3 port failed to respond to control input at 14:32. Vehicle was recovered. Post-recovery inspection found the thruster motor had seized. Last recorded maintenance was [date], [hours] ago.'
• WRONG: 'The pilot lost control due to inexperience.'
• RIGHT: 'At approximately 85m depth, the vehicle entered an uncontrolled pitch-down attitude. Pilot applied corrective input. Vehicle recovered at 92m. Total uncontrolled descent: 7m over approximately 12 seconds.'

The Corrective Action Section

This is where most reports are weakest. 'Reminded crew of procedure' or 'will be more careful' are not corrective actions — they're promises that are unverifiable and suggest nothing systemic was done. Effective corrective actions are specific and trackable:

• Name the specific procedure change or addition
• Identify who is responsible for implementing it
• Set a deadline for completion
• Describe how completion will be verified

Timing: Report As Soon As Possible

Memory degrades faster than most people expect. Specific details — the exact time, the reading on a gauge, the precise sequence of events — become unavailable within hours. Write the initial report on the day of the incident. A detailed report filed late is less credible than a timely one that gets updated as information is confirmed.

Logging Incidents in ThrusterLog

ThrusterLog's shift notes include an anomaly flag specifically for this purpose. Any incident or near-miss flagged during a shift appears prominently in the handover record, ensuring the incoming supervisor is aware and the event is documented against the correct dive and timestamp.