Swedish P&I Club issues Monthly Safety Scenario for March 2015
The Swedish P&I Club published its Monthly Safety Scenario for March 2015 regarding main engine failure resulting in serious damage .The Swedish Club publishes on a monthly basis a new “Monthly Safety Scenario” (MSS) to assist owners in their efforts of complying with the maritime regulations.
The vessel was in ballast condition and inbound to port. It was night-time and the pilot boarded. Two tugs were connected: one on the bow and one on the stern. Before the pilot boarded the engine had been tested and the pre-arrival checks had been completed.
On this vessel the Chief Engineer was normally on the bridge during manoeuvring. At the pilot brief the pilot was given the pilot card and he informed the master that the plan was to berth on the starboard side. To be able to do this the vessel was required to carry out a 180 turn to port. The master lined up the vessel and started to turn when suddenly the main engine failed to respond. The master ordered slow astern but there was no response. Several repeated orders, from slow astern to full astern, were commanded from the bridge telegraph but with no response.
The main engine is a medium speed fourstroke engine driving a fixed pitch propeller through a gearbox controlled via a Woodward governor and reversing effected by the main gearbox. Control is carried out via the electronic bridge control.
At this time the Chief Engineer was operating the engine telegraph and he attempted to transfer control to the engine control room. At the same time the pilot requested the two assisting tugs to turn the vessel away from danger. However, this failed. Just in front of the vessel were a tug and a moored barge, which the vessel hit at a speed of five knots.
The tug was seriously damaged and sank rapidly. Vessel A suffered significant damage to the bulbous bow and the forepeak was filled with water. After an investigation by the superintendent it was found that one of the solenoid valves had failed.
These are responsible for regulating and stopping the air signal to the governor that controls the main engine speed. Due to this failure the engine could not be stopped or the gearbox set astern.
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The Club recommends the following questions for incident investigation and experience feedback of the casualty: 1. What were the immediate causes of this accident? 2. Is there a chain of error? 3. Is there a risk that this kind of accident could happen on our vessel? 4. How often do we inspect our solenoid valves? 5. Is this job included in the PMS? 6. Is the job interval sufficient? 7. How could this accident have been prevented? 8. What sections of our SMS would have been breached if any? 9. Is our SMS sufficient to prevent this kind of accident? 10. If procedures were breached why do you think this was the case? 11. What do you think is the root cause of this accident? 12. Do we have a risk assessment onboard that addresses these risks? |
Source: The Swedish P&I Club
