IMCA Safety Flash 16/14
An IMCA member has reported an incident in which the engine room of a seagoing vessel was flooded to a level of two metres above tank top (to just below the engine room floor plating).
If the flooding incident lasted a few minutes longer, serious machinery damage could have been the result. The incident occurred during ballasting operations, when the configuration of pumping from and to ballast tanks was altered.
During this process the cover plate of the sea strainer was blown off. This resulted in seawater ingress into the engine room. Engine room personnel instructed the bridge officer in charge of ballasting to stop ballasting operations. The overboard suction valve and overboard discharge valve were opened to de-energize the pumping system. This worsened the situation since a direct connection between open water and engine room was created. This was noticed by engine room personnel immediately and the bridge officer was instructed to close overboard valves. There was no damage and no injuries.
Lessons learnt |
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Source and Image Credit: IMCA
For more information please read Safety Flash 16/14 issued by IMCA