Health & Safety

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) has released its investigation report regarding a fire incident that occurred aboard a bulk carrier near Windsor, Ontario in 2019. The TSB said the report raises a board safety concern regarding firefighting resources at some Canadian harbours and ports.

On December 15, 2019, a fire ignited in the engine room of the bulk carrier Tecumseh while it was transiting the Detroit River off Windsor, Ontario with 16 crew members on board. The crew attempted to extinguish the fire with the CO2 fixed fire suppression system. The investigation found that the onboard fire originated following the failure of a flexible fuel hose assembly supplying fuel to the ship’s port main engine. Continue reading “Marine safety concerns about firefighting at Canadian ports”

The US Coast Guard has announced it is updating the type approval requirements for certain types of equipment that survival craft are required to carry on U.S. flagged vessels. The purpose of this rule is to update the requirements for 12 types of equipment required to be carried onboard survival craft on certain U.S. flagged vessels:

– Bilge pumps
– Compasses
– First-aid kits
– Fishing kits
– Hatchets
– Jackknives
– Signaling mirrors
– Emergency drinking water
– Sea anchors Continue reading “Update on survival craft equipment requirements”

Belgium’s Federal Bureau for the Investigation of Maritime Accidents (FEBIMA) has issued its report following a serious incident onboard the MTS Central Park, when a mist of sulphuric acid came into contact with the AB. The seafarer suffered second degree burns on his back, on the back of his neck, on his arms and his face.

On May 31st, 2021, MTS Central Park was on her way to the port of Antwerp to load a cargo of sulphuric acid, a corrosive product. Around 10:00 hours, a cargo operations meeting was held in the cargo control room. The meeting was organised by the Chief Officer and attended by all crew involved in cargo operations. Continue reading “Valve of cargo line caused injury aboard MTS Central Park”

Belgium’s Federal Bureau for the Investigation of Maritime Accidents (FEBIMA) has released its investigation report into the fire that broke out on board TSHD UILENSPIEGEL resulting in damage to the engine room caused by contaminated insulation panels.

On 26 January 2021,TSHD UILENSPIEGEL was moored at pier 0 at Lisnave shipyard, Setubal, Portugal. The vessel was afloat again after a period in dry dock where maintenance had been carried out, including an overhaul of the vessel’s main engines. The ship’s crew had been involved in the overhaul task, together with shipyard personnel and a service engineer from MAN, the manufacturer of the main engines. On the morning of 26 January, the running in of the main engines commenced. Continue reading “Insulation panels contaminated with oil caused fire”

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has published its 96 page Safer Seas Digest 2021, highlighting the most important lessons learned from 31 maritime tragedies that took place over the course of last year including capsizings, contact, collisions, fires, flooding and groundings.

Among the key investigations included in the report are the sinking of Scandies Rose, where five lives were lost, and the capsizing of Golden Ray, one of the most expensive marine accidents in history.

In brief, some of the key lessons learned from the Safety Digest are: Continue reading “Safer Seas Digest 2021 published by NTSB”