The Swedish P&I publishes Monthly Safety Scenario
The Swedish P&I Club publishes on a monthly basis a new Monthly Safety Scenario (MSS) to assist owners in their efforts of complying with the regulations. Under the ISM requirement owners are obliged to carry out monthly safety meetings or safety committee meetings onboard their vessels. This obligation stems from Chapter 5 of the ISM Code: “Master’s responsibility and authority” and furthermore from “5.1.2, motivating the crew in the observation of that policy”.
The obligation can also be derived from the Code of “Safe Working Practices for Merchant Seamen”, where it is stated that the safety committee should meet regularly: “3.13.2, The frequency of meetings will be determined by circumstances but as a general guideline, the committee should meet about every 4-6 weeks”. The Monthly Safety Scenario for June is ‘Corroded pipe causing oil spill’.
Corroded pipe causing oil spill
The 15 year-old bulk carrier was having itsthird special survey completed in dry-dock. Asusual there were also many other jobs beingcarried out at the time. One of these jobs wasto replace a section of a de-aeration pipe in thecargo hold.The Chief Officer had discovered during acargo hold inspection a month earlier, that thede-aeration pipe seemed to be corroded. Thispipe led from the sea chest, passing throughthe cargo hold and then through an HFO tankand finally out through the vessel’s shell plate.
It was decided that the section of the pipe in thecargo hold should be replaced and that crossbarsshould also be fitted for protection against damage during cargo handling.
The Chief Officer did not think it was necessary to inspect the section of the pipe insidethe HFO tank. There was no scheduled inspectionof the HFO tanks during dry-docking.This section of the pipe was replaced by theshipyard without any problems and the vessel leftthe shipyard after repairs were completed andsailed in ballast condition to the loading port.
The vessel arrived in the morning at thedischarge port where it was planned that thevessel would receive bunker. A bunker barge camealongside and the first engineer completed thebunkering checklist. About an hour later thebunkering began. At this time the cargooperation had also commenced.
At lunchtime, one of the ABs discovered oil inthe water, which he told the OOW about.The OOW, who was in the cargo office, cameout on deck to see what the AB was talkingabout. After a couple of minutes the OOW couldsee oil trickling down the side of the hull.
He went into the cargo office and made ageneral announcement about the pollution andon what side of the vessel the oil wasescaping. Shortly after this he called the Masterand informed him about the oil pollution. TheMaster informed the coast guard, harbourauthorities and the DPA about the incident.
For more information, view the Swedish P&I Club Monthly Safety Scenario here.
Source: The Swedish P&I Club