USCG SAFETY ALERT TO ADDRESS ELECTRICAL INSTALLATIONS KNOWLEDGE GAP ISSUED
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) has issued a Safety Alert to emphasize the importance of properly installed and maintained listed or certified safe electrical equipment in hazardous areas in order to reduce the risk of fire or explosion onboard vessels. Publication follows an increasing number of instances by the Coast Guard where there was a lack of knowledge regarding the installation, training, maintenance and inspection of these certified systems.
PSC Officers (PSCOs) have found certified safe equipment improperly installed or identified missing components, which compromises the certification of the system and nullifies this critical protection in a flammable environment. In other cases, PSCOs found degraded components and evidence of equipment not being maintained or inspected. Additionally, USCG personnel nationwide have discovered instances where individuals responsible for the installation, maintenance, and oversight of this equipment onboard foreign and domestic vessels were unfamiliar with the appropriate standards to follow.
While hazardous area design standards are included in 46 CFR Subchapter J, the requirements for proper training, inspection and maintenance are not explicitly provided. Furthermore, requirements for these operational aspects of ensuring hazardous area electrical safety and system integrity are more robustly covered in the IEC standards than they are in some of the corresponding national standards.
USCG strongly recommends that owners, operators, shipboard personnel, marine surveyors and service providers: – Familiarize themselves with additional IEC standards that are called out by IEC 60092- 502:1999 and in particular IEC 60079-14, 60079-17, and IEC 60079-19 as it relates to the proper training, inspection, maintenance, and documentation of electrical equipment installed in hazardous areas to ensure that no potential ignition source is present in hazardous areas aboard tank vessels, gas carriers and vessels using gases or other low flashpoint fuels. – Ensure proper training for operators and persons with executive functions conducted to a standard not inferior to the IEC at all appropriate levels. – Implement an appropriate periodic inspection and maintenance program by competent personnel.
– Ensure that any repairs should be made by a competent technician or repair facility. When in doubt, a representative of the equipment manufacturer should be consulted. Any modifications to existing systems must be discussed with and approved by the appropriate regulatory authority (i.e., USCG, flag administration, or vessel classification society).
LOSS OF CARGO CONTAINERS OVERBOARD FROM CONTAINER SHIP EVER SMART REPORT PUBLISHED BY MAIB
On 30 October 2017, the UK registered container ship Ever Smart suffered a container stow collapse while on passage between Taipei, Taiwan and Los Angeles, USA. The master had changed the ship’s passage plan to avoid severe weather caused by a developing depression east of Japan. The ship continued in heavy seas; rolling and pitching heavily with frequent bow flare slamming. Once the weather had abated, the crew discovered that the container stacks on the aft most bay had collapsed and toppled to port. Of the 151 containers in the stow, 42 were lost overboard and 34 were damaged. Superficial damage was caused to the ship.
Safety issues - the loss of the containers most likely occurred during a period of heavy pitching and hull vibration in the early morning of 30 October;
- combination of factors resulted in a loss of integrity for the whole deck cargo bay; in particular, the containers were not stowed or secured in accordance with the cargo securing manual; - the container lashings might not have been secured correctly
Safety recommendations Recommendations (2020/125, 2020/126 and 2020/127) have been made to Evergreen Marine Corp. (Taiwan) Ltd to improve standards of stowage plans produced ashore, knowledge of the dangers of bow flare slamming and lashing gear maintenance management.
Read the report and annexes in full at
https://bit.ly/30Aar2v.
The Report • September 2020 • Issue 93 | 19
Safety Briefings
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