The Bahamas Maritime Authority issued a Safety Alert earlier in 2020 to highlight the risks associated with refilling gas cylinders. This follows an ongoing investigation into a marine incident involving a Bahamas-flagged ship.
The incident
A Bahamas-registered cruise ship was undertaking regular maintenance of life-saving appliances at anchor.
Whilst refilling a bank of nitrogen cylinders that form part of a lifeboat (back-up) launching system, one nitrogen cylinder exploded.
Consequently, one crew member sustained serious injuries.
See also: TAIC: A nitrogen cylinder burst resulted to one fatality
Safety factors
Although the investigation was ongoing, BMA drew attention to the following:
- Pressure vessel failure can be catastrophic. Therefore, companies must assess and manage the risk posed by refilling operations.
- Gas cylinders must only be refilled by competent persons who understand the risks associated with the cylinder and its contents.
- Gas cylinders must be given a full external visual inspection before refilling. This requires the cylinder to be removed from any bracket(s) to enable inspection of all hidden surfaces and the base of the cylinder.
- The current frequency required for hydrostatic testing of gas cylinders may not identify gas cylinders that have degraded beyond their discard criteria in good time.
