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The advice from the US Coast Guard is to avoid loading electric vehicles with saltwater damage on ships

The stricken Felicity Ace photographed before sinking. Photo credit: Portuguese Navy
The stricken Felicity Ace photographed before sinking. Photo credit: Portuguese Navy

The US Coast Guard (USCG) has issued a warning to the shipping industry about the extreme risk of loading electric vehicles (EV) with damaged lithium-ion batteries onto commercial vessels.

Marine Safety Alert 01-23, published by USCG, addresses the issue and provides recommendations to vessels, ports, shippers and regulators. The safety alert comes just a few months after Hurricane Ian made landfall in South Florida. In the aftermath of the intense and destructive storm, first responders encountered numerous EV fires where investigations have subsequently determined were caused by exposure of the lithium-ion batteries to saltwater. Continue reading “The advice from the US Coast Guard is to avoid loading electric vehicles with saltwater damage on ships”

GOS makes recommendations for USCG to improve fishing vessels safety

Image for illustrative purposes only

The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) has identified several actions that the US Coast Guard (USCG) needs to take to help prevent future fishing vessel losses and related fatalities and has made six key recommendations. According to GAO, USCG hasn’t fully implemented 17 of 22 statutory requirements to improve commercial fishing vessel safety.

For example, USCG hasn’t developed a training program for commercial fishers or re-established an advisory committee on industry safety issues. In addition, USCG doesn’t have a detailed plan to guide their efforts to fully implement the outstanding statutory requirements. Continue reading “GOS makes recommendations for USCG to improve fishing vessels safety”

Electrical component failure causes flame discharge

Photo credit: ATSB
Photo credit: ATSB

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has published its investigation report on the liquified hydrogen (LH2) carrier Suiso Frontier. According to the report, the failure of an incorrectly-fitted electrical solenoid valve led to the brief propagation of flame.

While berthed on the evening of 25 January 2022, the chief mate and cargo engineer made plans to start the ship’s gas combustion unit or GCU (see the section titled Gas combustion unit and Figure 1) to burn excess boil-off gas (BOG) from the LH2 cargo tank. 2 They notified the wharf operator and followed standard Continue reading “Electrical component failure causes flame discharge”

Condemned fire extinguishers must be discarded

Image shown is for illustrative purposes only
Image shown is for illustrative purposes only

The Nautical Institute has shared some lessons learned from an incident that involved a corroded fire extinguisher, which had been condemned and subsequently its malfunction proved fatal.

A handheld cartridge-type dry chemical powder fire extinguisher was condemned during an annual third-party inspection due to corrosion. It was subsequently discharged, essentially for demonstration purposes. When the internal carbon dioxide cartridge was activated to pressurise the fire extinguisher, the unit ruptured at the base. The person activating the extinguisher was struck in the head by pieces of flying metal which proved to be fatal. Continue reading “Condemned fire extinguishers must be discarded”

AMSA published its Compliance Strategy 2023/27

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has published its Compliance Strategy 2023/27. It builds on the modern regulatory foundations laid out in its predecessor and sets out six key elements. It is a data-driven, risk-based and proportionate approach to compliance that minimises impact on industry while maximising safety and environmental outcomes.

On a practical level, the strategy is implemented through AMSA’s annual National Compliance Plans which detail specific inspection and education focus areas for a given 12-month period. AMSA Executive Director of Operations, Michael Drake, Continue reading “AMSA published its Compliance Strategy 2023/27”

Safety alert issued after flare explosion fatality

Image for illustrative purposes only
Image for illustrative purposes only

The Dutch Safety Board has published an urgent Safety Alert following a recent accident that killed a sailor as he fired a flare. The incident happened on board a Dutch sailing ship in the Pacific Ocean.

Complying with the flare’s requirements and instructions, the experienced sailor fired the flare. The flare did not launch as intended, but exploded immediately with fatal consequences.

After becoming aware of the accident, the Dutch Safety Board started a preliminary investigation. From the initial analysis of the Continue reading “Safety alert issued after flare explosion fatality”

Unrivalled hands-on demo opportunities at Ocean Business 2023

With less than three months until Ocean Business 2023, more details have been revealed about the Training and Demonstration programme, one of the main attractions of the global technology and science exhibition for marine industries. This year’s Training and Demonstration programme marks a year of exciting progress and development in the ocean environment.

The three-day show, which runs from April 18-20 at the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton, is open to all visitors for free by registering online. Continue reading “Unrivalled hands-on demo opportunities at Ocean Business 2023”

Smooth Sea 22 was not the ship it claimed to be

When Thai-flagged oil products tanker Smooth Sea 22 (IMO 9870991) suffered an explosion and a subsequent fire on 17th January, few realised that the event would expose a case of potential ship-identity fraud.

On January 24th the International Maritime Organization was reported to have declared the ship’s IMO number to be non-valid after it emerged that the ship that was masquerading as 2018-built ship was in fact built in 1986 and was suspected of previously being known as the 4,4821 gt Hai Zhou 168 (IMO 8514045), and before that as the Smooth Sea 28. Continue reading “Smooth Sea 22 was not the ship it claimed to be”

First Annual Disclosure Report from Poseidon Principles for Marine Insurance

Poseidon Principles for Marine Insurance has published its first Annual Disclosure Report as a step forward towards transparency in the maritime and insurance sectors. In the report, eight of the world’s leading marine insurers have gathered and published client data to track their hull and machinery insurance portfolio’s climate impact. The goal is to support the industry’s green transition.

“This level of transparency is a major milestone on our journey to decarbonise the maritime industry”, said Patrizia Kern, Chair of the Poseidon Principles for Marine Insurance initiative and Marine Strategy Advisor – CEO Office at Swiss Re Corporate Solutions. Continue reading “First Annual Disclosure Report from Poseidon Principles for Marine Insurance”

Response vessel damaged the hull of burning freighter, Almirante Storni

Cracking and indentation on the hull of Almirante Storni
Cracking and indentation on the hull of Almirante Storni

During the response to a serious fire aboard the lumber carrier Almirante Storni in 2021, a Swedish Coast Guard vessel intentionally pressed its stern into the bulker’s hull, bending in plating and nearly causing flooding, according to the Swedish Accident Investigation Authority (SHK).

On December 4, 2021, a fire broke out in a deck cargo of lumber aboard the wood carrier Almirante Storni at an anchorage outside of the port of Gothenburg, Sweden. The vessel was taking on fuel oil at the time, and the bunkering vessel’s crew saw flames towards the Storni’s bow and raised the alarm. Continue reading “Response vessel damaged the hull of burning freighter, Almirante Storni”

Risks of in-transit fumigation leading to phosphine gas explosions

Aluminium phosphide, the precursor compound from which phosphine gas is generated, is available in different forms and can be supplied in aluminium bottles as tablets of about 3g each or as pellets of about 1g. Alternatively it can be supplied in fabric ‘socks’ or strips of cojoined paper sachets which enable the fumigant residues to be easily removed in the situation where it is undesirable to have fumigation residue remaining in the cargo. Generally, and as a rule of thumb, Degesch state that one 3g tablet of aluminium phosphide formulation will generate about 1g of phosphine gas.

Usually, the quantity of aluminium phosphide applied per hold is calculated Continue reading “Risks of in-transit fumigation leading to phosphine gas explosions”

How to ensure optimal efficiency of purifiers onboard

Dick Farrel Camoying, Assistant Vice President, Technical Manager, Skuld Club, focuses on the subject of ships’ purifiers, and says that they are one of the most important pieces of auxiliary machinery.

According to Mr. Camoying, the main purpose of purifierss is to separate water and other contaminants in the oil mixture using the principle of density difference. Therefore, good maintenance of purifiers is important for smooth and accurate operation of the units. Some factors that influence a good working purifier are temperature, feed rate, the type of gravity disc, and oil density. Continue reading “How to ensure optimal efficiency of purifiers onboard”

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