On 8 December 2014 at 1933, a 43-year-old crewmember of m/v Anna M was found in a helpless condition with severe head trauma at the bottom of the empty cargo hold № 1, near the vertical ladder to enter the hold. The ship was at anchor in Varna roadstead in expectation of permission to enter the port. A medical evacuation was carried out to the suffered ashore, where a doctor ascertained his death. There were no immediate eyewitnesses to the accident, but the nature of the injuries and the location of the body suggested a dropping from the vertical ladder and fall from a great height to the bottom of the cargo hold.
The conclusion of the investigators was that the main cause for that was the failure of the crewmember to comply with the safety rules for descending the vertical ladders. Contributing causes of the accident were the bad condition /deformation/ of the vertical ladder of cargo hold №1, as well as violation of the ship’s rules - entering without a permit in the cargo hold.