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Learning 7

A fire broke out in the engine room of a tanker at sea. The engineers attempted to fight the fire but were forced to evacuate due to heavy smoke. An investigation found that a fuel oil line had sheared due to loose brackets that were known but not repaired, spraying fuel onto exposed hot exhaust bellows without proper lagging that had been removed for previous work but not replaced. The exposed surfaces ignited the fuel and engulfed the engine room in fire. Lessons learned were to ensure all hot surfaces are properly covered, fuel lines are securely fastened, and protective barriers are replaced after work. The key message is to take action when protective barriers or equipment needing repair are observed.

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46 views

Learning 7

A fire broke out in the engine room of a tanker at sea. The engineers attempted to fight the fire but were forced to evacuate due to heavy smoke. An investigation found that a fuel oil line had sheared due to loose brackets that were known but not repaired, spraying fuel onto exposed hot exhaust bellows without proper lagging that had been removed for previous work but not replaced. The exposed surfaces ignited the fuel and engulfed the engine room in fire. Lessons learned were to ensure all hot surfaces are properly covered, fuel lines are securely fastened, and protective barriers are replaced after work. The key message is to take action when protective barriers or equipment needing repair are observed.

Uploaded by

iomerko
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Learning from Incidents

Take action when you see missing protective barriers or


equipment needing repair

Issue Number: 07 | Issue Date: July 2014

Improperly completed maintenance tasks can result in an incident with severe consequences

What happened? Burnt section of Main Engine Engine room after the fire
A tanker was at sea when
the fire alarm in the engine
room sounded. The
engineers on the night
watch confirmed to the
bridge that a fire had
started in the lower main
engine area. The engineers
attempted to investigate the
source of the fire but were forced to leave the engine room because of heavy smoke.
They activated the emergency ‘STOP’ and stopped the engine room
ventilation. After the head count confirmed all persons were accounted for,
the CO2 flooding system was activated and CO2 was released into the
engine room. Boundary cooling continued throughout the night until it was
confirmed the fire was extinguished.
Exposed exhaust
The investigation found:
- A fuel oil line under 6 bar pressure (87 psi) had sheared. The brackets on
the line were known to be loose and were not corrected. This allowed
the fuel oil line to vibrate and break apart.
- The lagging on the main engine exhaust bellows near the fuel oil line
was previously removed to carry out work in the area but it was never
replaced completely. This left hot surfaces exposed with temperatures up Sheared fuel oil line
to 400 deg C (750 deg F).
- The fuel from the sheared fuel oil line sprayed over the area, including
the exposed hot exhaust bellows, and ignited a fire.
- The fire engulfed the engine room.
Lessons learned
 Ensure all hot surfaces which can be a potential ignition source are
covered with protective lagging material.
 Check that fuel oil lines are well secured to avoid localised vibration in the line.
 When a job is completed in an area ensure all protective barriers are replaced.

KEY MESSAGE:
Take action when you see missing protective barriers or equipment needing repair

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