After the VLCC, Front Hakata, suffered an engine fire, near Chiba Prefecture, Japan, on August 5, it has now been towed, the Japanese Ministry of Land, Transport and Tourism informed. Namely, Front Hakata reported fire in the engine room, while it was waiting for berth at Chiba, being fully loaded with crude oil.
The industry has mostly shed its focus on navigational safety or pollution prevention; however, the issues related to engine rooms and installations should not be disregarded considering that many accidents have been reported due to engine failures, loss of power or other engineering related causes.
IMCA informed about a severe engine failure during a major vessel overhaul. Namely, the connection rod on a cylinder parted from the connecting rod cap and created a hole in the engine block. The engine had been operating for 17 hours, carrying approximately a 20% load.
Eight crew members were evacuated form the Turkish cargo ship ‘Haksa’, after she suffered a water ingress in its engine room, while underway in the Adriatic Sea, off Croatia, near the island of Jabuka, on Sunday, according to data provided by the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure of Croatia.
While a coastal Ro-Ro passenger vessel was at berth, it was using a auxiliary boiler to provide onboard accommodation heating, while the engines were not operating. After the boiler began working, fire broke out near the boiler, caused by a leak. The engineers quickly shut the boiler down and put the fire out with a foam fire extinguisher.
A recent analysis of the Shipowners Club’s Condition Survey Programme highlighted that approximately 25% of the vessels surveyed reported contaminated engine room bilges. As such, the Club draw attention to the potential fire hazards associated with oily engine room bilges and the checks and steps that a ship’s crew should undertake to address this issue.
In its latest Monthly Safety Scenario, the Swedish Club presents an incident of engine room fire caused by the emergency quick acting valves not being properly closed. Many fires are caused by hot spots not being covered by the required insulation which might have been removed during maintenance.
US Coast Guard and senior investigators with the Transportation and Safety Board of Canada boarded the 876-foot container ship ‘MOL Prestige’ on 12 February, at Pier 18 in the Port of Seattle, to begin preliminary investigations into the cause of the engine room fire that the vessel suffered earlier this month.
In January 2016, the passenger vessel PeeJay V caught fire and sank, because the main firefighting system was ineffective and staff did not fully understand how it should work. New Zealand’s TAIC issued a report on the incident, noting that, for a CO2 firefighting system to be useful, the space must be airtight and everyone involved should be fully trained.
Kongsberg Digital has received DNV-GL statements of compliance for two Engine Room Simulator models, designed to provide training on the K-Sim Engine simulator platform. The certification, based on the requirements of STCW Convention, Regulation I/12, was awarded to the DEDF Cruise Ferry and L11 MAN 6S70 ME SCC K-Sim Engine models in December 2017.
