Swedish P&I Club issues Monthly Safety Scenario for August 2014
The Swedish P&I Club issued a Monthly Safety Scenario for August 2014 regarding smoking in a cabin.
The AB had taken the afternoon off and been ashore drinking. He came back one hour before departure. He was involved in the departure on the stern helping with taking in the mooring lines. Afterwards he went to his cabin and had some more beer. He lit a cigarette and sat down on the sofa.
The OOW suddenly had a fire alarm on the bridge. The fire alarm panel did not show exactly where the fire alarm had been triggered but only the zone. He pinpointed it to the crews cabins. He told the lookout to make his way and investigate
Before the lookout came to the area with the fire alarm he could smell smoke, he went a bit further and came to a corridor which was full of smoke and he could see smoke coming out of one of the cabins. He called the OOW on the UHF and told him that a lot of smoke was coming out of one of the ABs cabins. The OOW sounded the general alarm. Five minutes later all were accounted for at the muster station except one of the ABs.
The Chief Engineer who was in charge of the fire teams told two teams to suit up. The chief officer closed the ventilation and the 1st Engineer turned off the electrical power to the accommodation area. The first fire team entered the accommodation. There was now a lot of smoke in the corridor and it was impossible to see anything. The Fire team leader found the door with the missing AB. He touched the door and could feel heat. He opened the door and started to spray water mist into the cabin. Flames could be seen through the smoke. It was too hot to enter the room without the cover of the water mist. The Chief Engineer told the second fire team to enter and try to retrieve the AB who was most likely in the cabin.
Thesecond fire team arrived and both teams entered the room. The first team ensuring that the second team were protected by the water mist. The fire was finally got under control and the second team located the AB on the sofa and dragged him out.
He was badly burned and declared deceased. There was also substantial damage to the other cabins. The vessel also lost its steering as a lot of cables had been damaged including cables for the steering gear. The master had to change to the NFU (None follow Up) that was still working.
| 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 regulation. Under the ISM requirement owners are obliged to carry out monthly safety meetings or safety committee meetings onboard their vessels. This obligation comes also from 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. |
Source and Image Credit: The Swedish P&I Club
For more infromation please read theSmoking in a cabinMonthly Safety Scenario for August 2014
|
You can also read the following related Monthly Safety Scenarios: Machinery-Cylinder Damage |
