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29 views

Blackout

Uploaded by

artempetuhov033
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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BLACKOUT SITUATION ON A SHIP: WHAT ARE THE FIRST STEPS

THAT SHOULD BE TAKEN?

Blackout is one condition each and every mariner is familiar with and also afraid of.
It is one situation everyone on the ship is terrified of because it brings the whole ship
to a standstill. From the bridge to the engine room, from dining crew members to the
sleeping ones, everyone is affected by a blackout.

If you are the one working in the engine room, then a blackout condition is your
responsibility and you should be responsible for the same, sooner or later the blame is
going to come on you.

In this article, we will learn what are the first things that need to be done in case of
blackout conditions on a ship?

Understanding Blackout Condition

Blackout condition is a scenario on a ship, wherein the main propulsion plant and
associate machineries such as boiler, purifier and other auxiliaries stop operating due
to failure of power generation system of the ship – Generator and alternator.

With technologies and automation, measures are provided to avoid such blackout
situations by means of autoloading sharing system and auto standby system in which
the generator set that is running in parallel or standby comes on load automatically if
the running diesel generator fails.

What to Do in Case of a Blackout?

In case of Blackout following precautions and actions should be taken:

 Never panic in such a situation, be calm and composed. An emergency


generator will restore the power in no time.
 Inform Officer on bridge briefly about the condition.
 Call for manpower and inform the chief engineer.
 If the main propulsion plant is running, bring the fuel lever to zero position.
 Close the feed of the running purifier to avoid overflow and wastage of fuel.
 If the auxiliary boiler was running, shut the main steam stop valve to maintain
the steam pressure.
 Find out the problem and reason for blackout and rectify the same.
 Before starting the generator set, start the pre- lubrication priming pump if the
supply for the same is given from the emergency generator; if not, then use a
manual priming handle (provided in some generators).
 Start the generator and take it on load. Then immediately start the main engine
lube oil pump and main engine jacket water pump.
 Reset breakers and start all the other required machinery and system. Reset
breakers that are included in preferential tripping sequence. (Non-essential
machinery).
 It requires both skill and patience to tackle a situation like a blackout especially
when the vessel is sailing or manoeuvring. However, the best way to tackle such
situations is to be calm and composed; and to know your engine room and
machinery very well in advance.

BLACKOUT DRILL ONBOARD SHIP AND HOW TO CONDUCT AN


EFFECTIVE DRILL

Blackout onboard ship can lead to big disaster manly while at sea passage and
undergoing rough weather or during ship manoeuvring in port at propinquity of
heavy traffic, shallow and break waters.

Black out onboard vessel is when she loses total power generation system, which
leads to stoppage of all pumps, propulsion system, lights, etc. In such case, they ship
has no control till the recovery of power. No one pray for such incident, but
sometimes it happens either due to human error, equipment malfunction, or due to
bad fuel supplied to run the auxiliary engines.

What cause ship to go block out?


As mentioned above, there are several issues that may lead to vessel black out, some
of the major ones are as follows:

 Human error: manly marine engineers might understand this better, it could
be by shutting down wrong fuel, water or air valve, which is in connection with
the running machinery. In Morden engines, safety trips are attached to protect
the engine from explosion, parts damage, and that of the operators safety.
When cooling water valve shut for example, the engine temperature rises very
fast and once alarm sounds and no action taken, next will be shutdown.
 Equipment failure: working mechanism can’t speak nor repair itself.
Therefore attention need to be paid to all running machineries to note down
when wrong sounds or miss behaviour starts. In such case failure maybe be
prevented and black out will have it distance. Example of equipments that may
cause black out are fuel or lubrication oil pump stoppage, fuel regulator
(governor) malfunction, circuit breaker malfunction, etc.
 Bad fuel supplied to ship: ship bunkering is a thing to pay good attention
toward. Sometimes people who supply fuel wish to make more profit, but
forgot the difficulty they are to create to the ship engineers and the crew
onboard. When a fuel contain water or mix with wrong chemical, all injection
valves and fuel pump may get damage, causing the engine to stop.

What are the possible casualties to experience if ship goes black out at sea?
Vessel stability is one of the import issue to consider when we talk about sailing.
Since she loses total control during black out, it’s very possible ; to lost cargo at sea
during rough weather (storms), load shifting which can lead to ship capsize,
collision to rocks or with another ship, grounding and sinking, etc.

With all of the above mentioned, they are all pointing to life and property lost risks.
Therefore to reduce these risks, quick recovery is the best practice in case blackout
happens. That is why ship crews mostly engine room, need to know there way to an
important areas even darkness.

Do we conduct blackout recovery drills onboard ship?


In the oldest days, blackout drills are conducted to have crews get familiar with the
passage ways in darkness. But recently, there’s no law enforcement that mandated
such drill. But in fire drills, ship familiarisation(when newly join the
vessel),safety equipment and usage drills, all crews can get familiar with locations
and get ready for quick responses during such emergency. Personally, when taking
crews manly engineers on ship or engine room familiarisation, it’s important to let
them know more about quick recovery system for the ship power peradventure it
happens during first 7 days onboard or contract time.

What are the things to note while under going engine room familiarisation?
When an engine room team newly join the ship, the handover routine is being carried
out. But since the fellow (new comer) is new to the environment or system, about
60% of what his or her mate will show maybe remembered while 40% might be
forgotten. Many marine companies do have some policy regarding ship
familiarisation, ranging from 7-14 days onboard. After the completion of this period,
a complete checklist will be given to the newly join crew to sign and signature of the
trainer will also be taken, then a copy sent to the head office with one copy file
onboard.

During the engine room familiarisation, it’s important to note firstly exits, why?
because it links to your personal safety, and that of the ship. Secondly, location of
engine room equipments and accessories. Thirdly, operations of engine room
machinery and tools. On like fire triangle (fuel, oxygen, and ignition), these three
points ( exit, location and operations) are the major focusing areas for a successful
engine room familiarisation.

Once all of the above mentioned observed, it’s easier to solve any problems that may
arise during your watch without any panic. However, there are other things associated
with black out problems which also has to be noted.

Action to take when your ship goes black


 Firstly do not panic, emergency generator will start automatically and give
light in few minutes. But if fails to start in 0.5 seconds -2 minutes ( depends on
set timing) then something is wrong, proceed to next steps.
 Stop the running engine (if engine is still running) because no cooling will be
there, and may get gaskets damage.
 Call other engineers for assistance and inform either Chief engineer or 2nd
engineer.
 Proceed to emergency generator room and start manually (if not started
automatically), then take on load, once power comes up, keep the power switch
to auto.
 Start emergency fuel pump to supply fuel to the main auxiliary engine, check
fuel pressure to make sure all is normal.
 Start any of the available auxiliary engine and proceed to power control panel.
 Close the main circuit breaker by pressing a push button or key, to get the main
power supply connected. Don’t worry there is a provision for auto
disconnecting MCB (main circuit breaker) from ECB(emergency circuit
breaker).
 Now your main power will be in, quickly reset all alarms and start all cooling
pumps, boiler feed pump (if any) and air supply vent fan.
 Stop the emergency generator manually and keep the button on auto.
 Start main auxiliary engine fuel pumps and change over back from emergency
fuel supply to main.
 Check all parameters and take rounds
 Now, if your main propulsion engine was running, restart again by following
main engine starting procedure.
 Welcome back
Noted, all of the above has to be done as fast as possible. Since boilers are already
pressurised and required feed water, main propulsion in stopped without proper
cooling, etc. It’s important to reach to these demands as soon as possible.

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