IMCA Safety Flash 06-23
IMCA has published Safety Flash 06-23.
Click to download the IMCA Safety Flash 06-23 here.
Compressor fire
There was a fire in a 25bar high flow diesel driven screw compressor installed on the back deck. The incident occurred on a diving support vessel operating within the 500m zone of a platform. The compressor was a long-term rental unit being used to provide ancillary air for subsea operations. It had had been running for 30 minutes at the time of the fire, and there were no indications of anomalies leading up to the incident. The fire was extinguished quickly and safely. There were no injuries.
Near miss: Foreign body in diver’s helmet, resulting in fall of gas pressure
During a routine dive at a depth of 18m (60’), the diver reported to the Dive Supervisor a drop in breathing gas pressure. The diver switched to bailout gas which did not solve the problem. The diver opened the free flow which increased gas pressure to a suitable level. The diver left the sea bottom and returned safely to the vessel deck. Upon removal of the diving helmet (a Kirby Morgan 37) a foreign body was found in the demand valve chamber section of the helmet regulator.
Battery explosion during routine maintenance
A chief engineer suffered minor injuries in a battery explosion when disconnecting a cable from the battery. The incident occurred onboard a harbour tug. The chief engineer was planning to replace a battery disconnect switch that had failed. While disconnecting the positive terminal, both terminals were inadvertently short-circuited with a spanner and the battery exploded causing injuries to the chief engineer. Operations were stopped, first aid was given and the tug returned alongside.
Poor control of work in dry dock
A member reports several cases of hot work and other activities being conducted by contractors on a vessel hull during dry dock/maintenance activities, in which the work was not fully or appropriately under the control of vessel management.
Examples included mesh cutting, pad-eye welding works on a vessel’s hull, and an empty PTW station.
Ineffective Crane Stinger Hook Pin Installation
While using the platform crane to suspend a wireline lubricator, the pin holding the hook on the crane stinger backed out, resulting in the hook and lubricator falling. The incident caused damage to a section of the lubricator.
