Transport Malta’s Marine Security Investigation Unit has issued an investigation report right into a fatality on board the Maltese registered oil tanker SEAPRINCESS in TK Tuzla Shipyard, Türkiye on 14 August 2023.
The Incident
Seaprincess entered TK Tuzla Shipyard, Türkiye, for its deliberate dry-docking on 29 July 2023. On the time of arrival within the dry-dock, all cargo and slop tanks had been washed, cleaned and dried, and declared gasoline free. The compartments had been examined every day and whereas they’d been declared to be gasoline free, they had been solely appropriate for entry offered a private gasoline monitor was worn. Furthermore, the compartments’ atmosphere was declared unsafe for decent work.
On 14 August, two welders from the restore driving crew had been informed that they needed to restore a number of stanchions within the port facet slop tank. The broken stanchions had been recognized on 06 August, throughout a survey. After establishing the welding set and making ready the world, one of many welders, who had simply began welding, seen a ball of fireside rising from the underside of the slop tank, adopted by a rush of air. He instantly shouted to his colleague to exit the slop tank and to move to the close by vertical ladder. The drive of the explosion ejected him to a top of about 12 m within the air. A second explosion cushioned his fall on deck, as he descended. The explosion brought about a small hearth contained in the slop tank which, nevertheless, was instantly extinguished. After the slop tank was declared protected for entry, the physique of the second welder was extracted from the slop tank.
Though the slop tank had been examined at 0800 and located to be gasoline free, the security investigation concluded that possibly, the reason for the explosion was the ignition of a small gasoline pocket that had constructed up on the decrease ranges of the tank and which should have escaped detection when the ambiance was examined by the shipyard within the morning.
Function
The aim of a marine security investigation is to find out the circumstances and security components of the accident as a foundation for making suggestions, to stop additional marine casualties or incidents from occurring sooner or later.
Fatigue and Alcohol
There have been no hours of relaxation data for the 2 welders, and neither was there a requirement to report them. To this impact, the security investigation was unable to find out the amount and high quality of relaxation, which they might have had. Nevertheless, in the course of the security investigation course of, the MSIU didn’t come throughout behaviour patterns, which might have urged that fatigue would have influenced the actions / inactions of the 2 welders. Fatigue was not thought of to be a contributory issue to this accident. Alcohol checks weren’t carried out on any of the driving crew members after the accident. Nevertheless, the MSIU got here throughout no proof, which might have urged that alcohol ought to be thought of as contributory to this accident.
Conclusions
Speedy Reason for the Accident
Welding splatters ignited undetected hydrocarbon vapour current contained in the port facet slop tank.
Situations and different Security Elements
A amount of oily-water combination, which unknowingly had remained contained in the decanting line between the 2 slop tanks, was launched contained in the port facet slop tank.
This oily-water combination finally launched hydrocarbon vapour contained in the tank.
Guaranteeing that every one interconnecting pipelines had been flushed was a big, daunting job and lacking on interconnections comes as no shock.
The extra the crew members, contractors and shipyard staff are engaged within the quite a few, simultaneous duties which must be carried out while the vessel is within the shipyard, the extra advanced the state of affairs turns into.
Though the slop tank had been examined at 0800 and was discovered to be gasoline free, the security investigation concluded that the build-up of a small gasoline pocket on the decrease ranges of the tank escaped detection when the ambiance was examined by the shipyard that morning.
It was attainable that the 2 welders had been both unaware that the slop tank was not cleared for decent work, or they’d missed the warning signal altogether.
Though the vessel’s procedures required all interconnecting pipelines between compartments to be flushed by and vented, this didn’t happen.
The protection investigation recognized cases the place communication might have been a difficulty. The OOW, senior officers and the superintendents had been all unaware that entry into the port slop tank and scorching work was being contemplated that morning by the driving crew.
Contemplating the timing of the completion of the security spherical guidelines, even when the obligation officer carried out his security spherical in accordance with the guidelines, he would have been unaware of the work that was about to happen at round 0900 – until he was informed about it, or he occurred to be within the neighborhood of the doorway.
The 2 welders had no cues {that a} easy welding job would have led to tragic penalties.
While the security investigation didn’t exclude that the 2 restore crew members might have been conscious of the oily-mixture leak contained in the slope tank, the chance associated to such a leak was both not recognized, or not appreciated by them.
Recollections of all these current indicated that this incident had not been reported as a result of the presence of the oily-mixture solely grew to become recognized after the explosion occurred.
The protection investigation believes that the entry into the enclosed area, and the eventual graduation of the recent work, was a situational efficiency variability, ‘instigated’ and consequential of the prevailing advanced, operational context, which one would sometimes discover in a shipyard.
Suggestions
In view of the conclusions reached and bearing in mind the security actions taken in the course of the course of the security investigation, the Firm is beneficial to:
11/2024_R1 Flow into the findings of this investigation to all vessels below its administration.
11/2024_R2 Analyse how communication gaps in shipyards, amongst crew members and different personnel on board Firm ships might be bridged, taking intoconsideration the anticipated prevailing context on board a vessel in a shipyard.
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Supply: Transport Malta
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