Captain Andrew Moll OBE shares some safety critical advice with boat users to mark the start of carbon monoxide awareness week 2022, reminding them of the hazards posed by this poisonous gas.
Many of us take steps in our homes to stay safe from carbon monoxide by installing CO alarms and having an annual boiler service, but are the same precautions being taken when out on the water?
The Marine Accident Investigation Continue reading “Carbon Monoxide Awareness Week 2022”
An admiralty court in London has found fault with all three vessels involved in a collision on the Suez Canal in 2018, including a bulker that struck two vessels within the span of a single day.
On July 16, 2018, the bulker Panamax Alexander was moored in the southern stretch of the Suez Canal, near the 150-km milepost in one of the narrowest sections of the waterway. She had been damaged the day before in a collision and grounding with the bulker Sakizaya Kalon, and her rudder stock and propeller blades were bent. Due to the damage, she was awaiting a tow to the Great Bitter Lake. In the meantime, the crew had made fast to bollards on the side of the canal with six lines. Continue reading “Admiralty court finds three vessels at fault in Suez collision”
The US Coast Guard has announced it is updating the type approval requirements for certain types of equipment that survival craft are required to carry on U.S. flagged vessels. The purpose of this rule is to update the requirements for 12 types of equipment required to be carried onboard survival craft on certain U.S. flagged vessels:
– Bilge pumps
– Compasses
– First-aid kits
– Fishing kits
– Hatchets
– Jackknives
– Signaling mirrors
– Emergency drinking water
– Sea anchors Continue reading “Update on survival craft equipment requirements”
Following the surprise runaway success of the first edition of the Safety & Loss Prevention Briefings Compendium, published in January 2022 by the International Institute of Marine Surveying (IIMS), and subsequently downloaded many thousands of times, Edition II has been launched covering the period January to October 2022. It is now available to download and read in pdf or eReader formats.
Edition II builds on the success of the launch publication and extends to 160 pages. The simple aim is to highlight the dangers of working in the maritime industry, the ensuing accidents and some of the prevention measures available to mitigate disasters at sea. The publication blends a mix of incident and accident reports with essential loss prevention advice generated over the year. One significant new feature is a calendar, featuring some of the many accidents that have occurred during 2022, catalogued month by month. Continue reading “Safety & Loss Prevention Briefings Compendium published”
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has published a safety alert to draw the attention of vessel operators to the importance of planned maintenance in ensuring the safe operation of domestic commercial vessels in Australia.
Planned maintenance is essential on domestic commercial vessels. Good maintenance work in port or at anchor can help avoid breakdowns and getting into hazardous situations at sea. Recent incidents have demonstrated the potentially serious consequences of a lack of effective maintenance that can pose serious risks to the safe operation of vessels. Analysis of 117 incident investigations since 2020 found that maintenance problems were a factor in 28% of incidents, including half of the very serious incidents and 27% of serious incidents. Continue reading “Planned maintenance on domestic commercial vessels safety alert from AMSA”
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released an investigation report on the towing vessel Capt. Kirby Dupuis, which experienced an engine fire on November 9, 2021 caused by a fire-extinguishing system fail.
On November 4, 2021, at 0600, the Capt. Kirby Dupuis departed Paducah, Kentucky (near mile 950), bound upriver for Steubenville, Ohio (near mile 68), pushing thirteen dry cargo barges filled with sand, rock, and steel. The vessel had a crew of six: the captain, pilot, a “deckineer”, and three deckhands. The deckineer was completing a company training program to be qualified as an engineer.
On the morning of November 9, the towboat was transiting with both engines about 1,275-1,290 rpm Continue reading “Crew unfamiliarity with fixed fire-extinguishing system caused towboat fire”
New arrangements for disposing of redundant marine pyrotechnics, known as flares, are being rolled out by the pleasure vessel industry in the UK. This will replace the voluntary and temporary scheme which His Majesty’s Coastguard has been providing since 2010 from 17 of its stations and the RNLI at its headquarters in Poole, Dorset. The new arrangements, supported by both British Marine and the Royal Yachting Association, will provide a website showing links to businesses offering disposal services across the United Kingdom.
On the 31 December 2022, the current HM Coastguard scheme will end and the Maritime and Coastguard Continue reading “Disposal of marine pyrotechnics from the UK pleasure vessel sector to change”
Belgium’s Federal Bureau for the Investigation of Maritime Accidents (FEBIMA) has issued its report following a serious incident onboard the MTS Central Park, when a mist of sulphuric acid came into contact with the AB. The seafarer suffered second degree burns on his back, on the back of his neck, on his arms and his face.
On May 31st, 2021, MTS Central Park was on her way to the port of Antwerp to load a cargo of sulphuric acid, a corrosive product. Around 10:00 hours, a cargo operations meeting was held in the cargo control room. The meeting was organised by the Chief Officer and attended by all crew involved in cargo operations. Continue reading “Valve of cargo line caused injury aboard MTS Central Park”
Belgium’s Federal Bureau for the Investigation of Maritime Accidents (FEBIMA) has released its investigation report into the fire that broke out on board TSHD UILENSPIEGEL resulting in damage to the engine room caused by contaminated insulation panels.
On 26 January 2021,TSHD UILENSPIEGEL was moored at pier 0 at Lisnave shipyard, Setubal, Portugal. The vessel was afloat again after a period in dry dock where maintenance had been carried out, including an overhaul of the vessel’s main engines. The ship’s crew had been involved in the overhaul task, together with shipyard personnel and a service engineer from MAN, the manufacturer of the main engines. On the morning of 26 January, the running in of the main engines commenced. Continue reading “Insulation panels contaminated with oil caused fire”
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has published its 96 page Safer Seas Digest 2021, highlighting the most important lessons learned from 31 maritime tragedies that took place over the course of last year including capsizings, contact, collisions, fires, flooding and groundings.
Among the key investigations included in the report are the sinking of Scandies Rose, where five lives were lost, and the capsizing of Golden Ray, one of the most expensive marine accidents in history.
In brief, some of the key lessons learned from the Safety Digest are: Continue reading “Safer Seas Digest 2021 published by NTSB”
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has published a Maritime Safety Awareness Bulletin to highlight that a lack of planned maintenance can have a significant impact on the safety of the vessel, the people, and the marine environment.
Maintenance related issues do not always receive the attention they deserve, as these are often difficult to detect and can be regarded as entirely technical matters, unrelated to safety and pollution prevention. As a result, maintenance matters may not be reported or addressed Continue reading “AMSA: Effective vessel maintenance can prevent machine failures”
Andrew Moll OBE, Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents at the Marine Accident Investigation Branch writes, “Welcome to MAIB’s second Safety Digest of 2022. I will start in the usual manner by thanking Julian Hughes, Jim Portus and Rachel Andrews for their respective introductions to the merchant, fishing and recreational sections of this edition. Each is an expert in their own field, and their industry insights to safety help bring contemporary context to the cautionary tales in the following pages. I hope you will find time to read the whole edition – there is something here for every mariner – but please do read the section introductions. And, when you have finished, please pass the digest on so others can benefit too. Continue reading “MAIB safety digest 2/2022 published”
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