INDEPENDENT CHECK OF INSTALLATION COULD HAVE PREVENTED EXPLOSION IN CONSTRUCTION SERVICE VESSEL NORMAND MAXIMUS
The Accident Investigation Board of Norway (AIBN) has published released its report on the work accident on board the Normand Maximus off the coast of Brazil on 21 February 2017. One person died in the accident, while another one was seriously hurt and a further three sustained minor injuries.
The construction service vessel (CSV) Normand Maximus was hired by Saipem to function as a platform at sea. In cooperation with Baker Hughes, Saipem was to conduct pre-commissioning tests to verify that all equipment and components are in accordance with the requirements stipulated for the Petrobras on the oil field Lula.
Baker Hughes was performing pressure testing of the oilfield’sgas flow system when the accident happened. The pressure testing operation occurred in a cordoned off area on the CSV Normand Maximus’s open aft deck. A permit to work (PTW) system was used to identify hazards and ensure that safety measures were implemented.
On Tuesday 21 February 2017, along with recovery/depressurisation of the MEG1 system, at a pressure of 215 bar, the compressed mixture of air and MEG exploded, which caused numerous blowouts and breaks in the system of pipes and valves on the open deck.
A Baker Hughes employee who was working in front of a manual pipe valve was hit by the valve’s handwheel, thrown out by the explosion and died. Moreover, one seriously injured person and three persons with minor injuries were on the deck.
Download the report at
https://bit.ly/2ThhZlP
REPORT BY TAIC INTO FATAL BURST NITROGEN CYLINDER PUBLISHED
New Zealand’s Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) has published its report on the accident in Port Chalmers, Dunedin in February 2017, on board the passenger cruise ship Emerald Princess. A nitrogen cylinder burst resulting in one fatality. The core of the report highlights a lack of global minimum standards for inspection, testing and rejecting pressure cylinders for stored energy systems on lifeboat launching installations, a common system on cruise ships.
On February 9, 2017, while the Bermuda-flagged passenger vessel ‘Emerald Princess’ was berthed at Port Chalmers in Dunedin, its crew was conducting maintenance procedures on one of the lifeboat launching systems.
As the maintenance was completed the crew was putting pressure on a bank of high-pressure nitrogen-gas cylinders that were a part of the launching davit ‘stored energy’ system. Additionally, one of the nitrogen bottles burst resulting in the death of one crew member who was standing close by.
After the incident, TAIC investigated the vessel and discovered that:
– The nitrogen cylinder burst out at below its normal working pressure because severe external corrosion had reduced the wall thickness to about 30% of its original thickness;
– The failed nitrogen cylinder and several other pressure cylinders within the stored energy system, despite having been surveyed about two weeks earlier, were not fit for purpose and should not have been left in service;
– There is an immediate need for consistent and proper standards to be developed at a global level for maintaining, inspecting, testing and, where necessary, replacing high-pressure cylinders associated with stored energy systems on board ships;
– The crew were following the approved and appropriate procedure for re-pressurising the stored energy system.
Read the recommendations and download the report at
https://bit.ly/2SdJvDE
16 | The Report • March 2019 • Issue 87
Safety Briefings
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