Lessons Learnt: Fresh water flooding large cargo ship
Lessons from UK MAIB's Marine Accident Reports The UK MAIB has issued the first issue of Safety Digest for this year including lessons learnt from maritime accidents. One case refers to poor planning and lack procedures which led to approximately 100 cubic metres of fresh water flooding accommodation and machinery compartments on board a large cargo ship.Due to the scheduled programme at the ships next port, a routine inspection of a fresh water storage tank was conducted on passage. The chief officer was responsible for the management of the fresh water and he delegated the task to the AB waterman. The waterman was told which tank to inspect and that the tank had been emptied. The waterman, who was familiar with the tank inspections on other ships, arranged for another crewman to assist. Neither crewman had inspected the water tanks on board.The two crewmen went to a compartment in the accommodation block where they thought that the tank lid was located. They then removed the lids securing nuts and one of the crewmen levered it out of position. As he did so, the tank lid was projected across thecompartment by the force of water coming from the tank below, narrowly ...
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