The brand new 1000 TEU container vessel is on her maiden voyage, from the north China yard to her first loading port in South East Asia. Suddenly, the main engine shuts down with no warnings. With no further investigations by the watch keeping engineer, the main engine is restarted. Shortly after restarting, the engine shuts down again, this time with an alarm from the splash oil monitoring system sensor.
The sequence alarm - shut down - restart, happened three times before it was decided to visually inspect the crankcase. The visual inspection did not reveal any apparent defects, so the crankcase was sealed, and the engine restarted. The crew suspected that the alarm sensor was malfunctioning, so the sensor was removed entirely. This was not a good choice.
Important reminders:
- No alarms should be ignored.
- It should always be established why an alarm is triggered and further operation should only continue upon such knowledge.
- On board management should not delay information to Manager if they are unsure or unfamiliar with the situation.
Norwegian Hull Club wishes to contribute to increased safety on board, focusing on Lives, Health, Environment and Assets and extracting Useful Experience. Please read our newsletter carefully and learn!
You can read the entire case-study by following this link: Casualty Newsletter No 74
