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Incorrect oxygen welding gas hose led to fire

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The hose had been recently replaced, but the replacement hose was a hydraulic oil service hose with oxygen fittings.
The hose had been recently replaced, but the replacement hose was a hydraulic oil service hose with oxygen fittings.

In its latest Safety Flashes, IMCA presents a case of a fire due to incorrectly selected oxygen welding gas hose, during a routine cutting job onboard a ship. There were no injuries or ship damage, but investigation later revealed that the hose had been recently replaced with one that did not comply with ISO 14113 specification.

The incident
The ship’s welder opened the Oxygen and Acetylene gas bottle valves in order to do a cutting job on deck. These gas bottles were attached to the vessel’s integrated welding gas system. Opening the valve on the Oxygen bottle caused an explosion to a short, high pressure hose delivering oxygen from the bottle to the oxygen gas regulator. The end of the hose caught fire and was quickly extinguished by turning off the oxygen bottle. Nobody was injured and the only damage was to the hose that completely separated.

Findings
The hose had been recently replaced, but the replacement hose was a hydraulic oil service hose with oxygen fittings. The replacement hose was not Continue reading “Incorrect oxygen welding gas hose led to fire”

British Marine issues statement following cancellation of 2019 London Boat Show

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British Marine, which organises and owns the London Boat Show, has announced that the 2019 Show, due to run at ExCeL London from 9-13 January 2019, will not take place.
British Marine, which organises and owns the London Boat Show, has announced that the 2019 Show, due to run at ExCeL London from 9-13 January 2019, will not take place.

British Marine, which organises and owns the London Boat Show, has announced that the 2019 Show, due to run at ExCeL London from 9-13 January 2019, will not take place.

This decision was made after independent research by exhibition experts, Zing Insights, showed there was insufficient support from a large proportion of the marine industry to the London Boat Show with its current format, duration and location.

In the last three weeks, Zing Insights has carried out personal interviews with over 67% of exhibitors. This revealed that whilst a number of marine companies supported the change to a five day Show, finding it preferable to a 10 day Show, a large number of key exhibitors were not prepared to commit to exhibiting to a five day Show at ExCeL in January 2019.

Continue reading “British Marine issues statement following cancellation of 2019 London Boat Show”

Sinking raises safety issues on bilge alarms

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The failure of engine cooling system pipework is one of the most common causes of flooding on small fishing vessels
The failure of engine cooling system pipework is one of the most common causes of flooding on small fishing vessels

In its latest Safety Digest, the UK MAIB provides learnings about an 8.13m fibreglass fishing vessel that was engaged in picking up its fleets of creels when it began to take on water and subsequently sank. The skipper, who was working alone, managed to deploy the boat’s liferaft and climb into it as the boat was sinking and was later rescued without injuries.

The incident
The skipper went out to sea shortly after daybreak to recover his two fleets of creels. The weather was good. As soon as he arrived at the fishing grounds, he hauled in the first fleet of creels and stowed it on the aft end of the deck. He then headed at speed toward the second fleet of creels.

Continue reading “Sinking raises safety issues on bilge alarms”

INTERCARGO Bulk Carrier Casualty report published

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INTERCARGO has published its Bulk Carrier Casualty report that analyses bulk carrier casualties over the period from 2008 to 2017
INTERCARGO has published its Bulk Carrier Casualty report that analyses bulk carrier casualties over the period from 2008 to 2017

INTERCARGO has published its Bulk Carrier Casualty report that analyses bulk carrier casualties over the period from 2008 to 2017. The report revealed that 53 bulk carriers over 10,000 dwt have been identified as total losses over that period with cargo shift and liquefaction remaining a great concern.

In 2017, the tragic losses of ‘Stellar Daisy’ carrying an iron ore cargo and ‘Emerald Star’ with a nickel ore cargo raised questions of structural integrity and safety condition of high density cargoes carried onboard. These two bulk carrier casualties caused the loss of 32 seafarers, the highest annual loss of lives since 2011.

As the report reveals, 9 casualties of suspected cargo failure consisted of 6 bulk carriers carrying nickel ore from Indonesia, 2 vessels with Continue reading “INTERCARGO Bulk Carrier Casualty report published”

Are ‘Smart Bolts’ the thing of the future?

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Intelligent wireless bolts in wind turbines or satellites may be able to let the operator know when something is wrong
Intelligent wireless bolts in wind turbines or satellites may be able to let the operator know when something is wrong

In the future, intelligent wireless bolts in wind turbines or satellites may be able to let the operator know when something is wrong. This could reduce the risk of human injuries and save cost.

A research team at NTNU in Gjøvik is working to create bolts that send an alert when something is not as it should be or when maintenance is needed. Each bolt must be able to contact a control center, which will receive messages from all intelligent bolts of this type in all installations around the world.

The team working on these wireless bolts includes Professor Michael Cheffena, two fellows and the manufacturer Dokka Fasteners. The vision of the research team is to develop wireless sensors to be installed inside the bolts. If the sensors detect that something is Continue reading “Are ‘Smart Bolts’ the thing of the future?”

New innovation for inspecting mooring chains above and below water successfully trialled

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The ground-breaking, new climbing robot, named RIMCAW (Robotic Inspection of Mooring Chains in Air and Water)
The ground-breaking, new climbing robot, named RIMCAW (Robotic Inspection of Mooring Chains in Air and Water)

A robot designed to hook onto, and scale up and down, large mooring chains, both at sub-sea level and in the air – with a non-destructive testing (NDT), ultrasonic imaging system on board that scans for critical defects – has recently undergone successful field trials.

The ground-breaking, new climbing robot, named RIMCAW (Robotic Inspection of Mooring Chains in Air and Water), is the result of a year-long, fast-track project that secured funding from Innovate UK, the Government agency behind finding and driving the innovations that will grow the UK economy. It is being delivered by collaborative partners Computerised Information Technology Ltd, Innovative Technology and Science Ltd, London South Bank University and TWI Ltd.

The inspection of large mooring chains, such as those being increasingly employed in Continue reading “New innovation for inspecting mooring chains above and below water successfully trialled”

Life Cell wins top boating magazine award

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Life Cell wins top boating magazine award
Life Cell wins top boating magazine award

Life Cell, which stores essential safety gear together in a buoyant, high-visibility floating case for quick and easy access in emergencies, has received a 2018 Top Product Award from Boating Industry magazine.

Designed by a survivor of a rapid sinking off the coast of Sydney, Australia, Life Cell is redefining how safety equipment is stored on boats and creating a new category of safety equipment in an attempt to save lives. It is like combining a life ring and a ditch kit in one device, two items that have undergone little innovation in recent history.

“Life Cell has had significant success in Continue reading “Life Cell wins top boating magazine award”

Wet damage the most costly claim for bulk carriers says The Swedish Club

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Image Courtesy: Empros Lines
Image Courtesy: Empros Lines

The Swedish Club has published a report warning bulk carrier owners to pay extra attention to the basics. The Club has concluded that for bulk carrier operators, wet damage is the most costly claim type and the second most common claim that they experience.

The report is entitled Wet Damage on Bulk Carriers and has been prepared in cooperation with DNV GL, and MacGregor. It identifies heavy weather and leaking hatch covers as the most common and the most costly type of wet damage claim and the average cost for a wet damage cargo claim being almost $110,000.

Whilst weather routeing minimises the effects of Continue reading “Wet damage the most costly claim for bulk carriers says The Swedish Club”

UK MCA and RNLI test drones for search and rescue

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Image credit: RNLI / Nigel Millard
Image credit: RNLI / Nigel Millard

The UK Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) have run a special week-long event to test the use of drones along a stretch of coastline at St Athan, Wales. The testing took place between 23 and 27 April. A selection of drones were used in four different search and rescue scenarios to explore how they could be used to help save lives in the future.

The scenarios were a shoreline search for a casualty, an offshore search for multiple casualties in the sea, a mud rescue and a communications blackspot where a drone is required to relay information between rescue teams and a casualty on a cliff.

Featuring RNLI lifeboats and an HM coastguard search and rescue helicopter, the scenarios explored Continue reading “UK MCA and RNLI test drones for search and rescue”

Denmark cancels registration fee for Danish Register in attempt to boost fleet size

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The aim of this amendment is to increase the attractiveness of the Danish Flag
The aim of this amendment is to increase the attractiveness of the Danish Flag

The Danish Parliament adopted a legislative amendment on 26 of April, which cancels the registration fee for vessels in the Danish Registers of Shipping. The aim of this amendment is to increase the attractiveness of the Danish Flag.

Denmark supports that this measure will indeed increase the attractiveness of the Danish Flag, as it now offers the same benefits as foreign Flags.

This amendment also provides increased economic activity and international influence, when the Danish Flag attracts more vessels from both national as foreign shipowners.

The amendment will enter into force on the Continue reading “Denmark cancels registration fee for Danish Register in attempt to boost fleet size”

London P&I Club reveals key causes of recent container loss claims

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Photo credit: London P&I Club
Photo credit: London P&I Club

A recent run of container loss claims by the London P&I Club has highlighted some of the common contributory factors that emerge as part of the investigation process. The Club noted that the subject of misdeclared container weights continues to be a problem. But with this particular run of claims it was the attending surveyor’s observations about cargo securing equipment that caught the eye.

In these cases, it became clear that several manual twist locks were not correctly locked at the time of the incident. The causes for this were considered to be two-fold – some twist locks were damaged (specifically with locking levers either bent or missing), or the units in service were a mixture of right and left-hand locking units, leading to confusion over the observed status of the twist lock.

Upon investigation, a number of container corner castings and container foundations showed no signs of having a locked twist lock forcibly removed during the collapse, the natural conclusion being Continue reading “London P&I Club reveals key causes of recent container loss claims”

Report on the Western Mediterranean LYSCWG training event

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IIMS members watching a practical demonstration of Prop Scan at the METALNOX facility
IIMS members watching a practical demonstration of Prop Scan at the METALNOX facility

The annual IIMS Western Mediterranean Large Yacht & Small Craft Working Group training event took place in Palma on 26-27 April and attracted 18 surveyors, proving to be a great success. As well as local Mallorca based IIMS members, others had travelled from Portugal, Ireland, mainland Spain and France to take part in the event.

On the first morning, the group travelled by bus to the METALNOX facility in nearby Calvia. METALNOX staff explained how they repair and recondition propellers and check and repair shafts. Surveyors were given a Continue reading “Report on the Western Mediterranean LYSCWG training event”

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