IMCA Safety Flash 11/25
IMCA has published Safety Flash 11/25
Click here to download the IMCA Safety Flash 11/25 here.
BSEE: Umbilical termination failure leads to dropped ROV
An ROV was in the process of being recovered after completing an inspection dive. After the ROV was nested in the Launch and Recovery System (LARS) cursor, the unit cleared the surface and travelled along the vessel cursor rails up to the cursor transition point. At the transition point, the operator stopped hauling in the umbilical winch and cursor assist tuggers to switch the umbilical winch to low-tension mode. As the ROV reached the cursor rail transition point, the umbilical parted, causing the ROV to drop to the seafloor.
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NTSB: Vessel crane contact with shore-side crane
The National Transportation Safety Board of the United States (NTSB) has published Report MIR-25-09 and Investigation DCA24FM014 into an incident in which a crane on a crane barge came into unplanned contact with a shore-side crane, causing $4.5 million worth of damage.
A towing vessel was pushing crane barge Stevens 1471 in the Cooper River at North Charleston, SC, when the barge crane contacted a dockside crane at the North Charleston Terminal. There were no injuries, and no pollution was reported. Damage to the terminal’s crane was estimated to be over $4.5 million.
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MAIB: Is your Lead-Acid battery safe?
A crew member on a barge escaped injury when a bank of four lead-acid batteries exploded on starting a generator engine after completing the start‑up checks. The four batteries simultaneously exploded as the start solenoid closed to power up the starter motor. Fortunately, the bank of batteries was housed in a secure steel battery locker that contained the explosion and limited the damage. Given the wet cell nature of the batteries and the length of time they had been in service, it is most likely that the electrolyte level had gradually dropped because of continuous float charging. This exposed the top of the cell plates, which probably started to corrode. The cells shorted out when the batteries were subjected to a high discharge load, causing the explosion.
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Lock out/Tag out and unauthorised electrical connections/disconnections
During a walkaround audit of a vessel engine room, problems were observed with the Lock Out/Tag Out (LOTO) process, It was observed that electrical equipment was switched off, but LOTO was not applied in place. Also, for the mechanical isolation, the locking device was not in place, though the mechanical valve was closed and tagged out.
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Dropped object hazard: access hatch to the communication dome
An access hatch cover to the communication dome was found to have dropped off. During a routine scheduled safety inspection of the main mast, it was discovered that the access hatch to one of the communication domes had fallen off. Further examination revealed that the secondary means of securing the hatch was severely compromised. This posed a significant risk, as the next high wind or squall could have resulted in a dropped object with the potential to cause injury or damage.
The incident happened during unloading of the flatbed truck, which was carrying two cranes on pallets butted up against each other. The forklift truck operator attempted to offload the first one, but during this operation, the forks accidentally caught the second pallet, causing it to fall off the far side of the truck. At this moment, the truck driver had walked over to the far side of the truck, and the falling load narrowly missed him.
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