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1. In recent past a fire incident occurred on a ship while carrying out hot work of mooring winch forward of the accommodation on main deck. The source of ignition was associated with the gas cutting & repairs.

The most probable cause of the fire & explosion was backfire in gas cutting torch and busting of oxygen / acetylene hoses resulting in sudden discharge of gases under pressure causing a flash fire & explosion. It appears that there were lapses in monitoring undertaken by the shipyard / ship staff and practices followed for hot-work & its permits, including inadequate maintenance of equipment used for welding & gas cutting.

This caused major damages to ship, its system & equipment, loss of life and injuries.

2. These incidents provide an opportunity to re-look at Safe Working Practices followed by shipyard during dry dock repairs and Safety Management System implemented by Companies.

3. A few effective ways to prevent similar incidents in future could be:

a) Risk Assessment and Mitigation measures are undertaken during repair / maintenance, work is carried out under supervision of ship staff, guidance of company Designated Person Ashore and Shipyard as applicable.

b) Ensuring that equipment used for hot work are safe to use and maintained in good condition at all times.

c) Critical operations such as hot work undertaken on ships are in accordance with established SOPs/ Checklists as per the safety management system of the ship and ensuring safety measures are in-place as per agreement between repair yard and owners.

d) Safe working practices are followed at all times.

e) Ensuring continuous fire-watch undertaken during hot work and fire-fighting equipment are kept ready for use in case of any emergency.

4. Owners & Managers are to take note of above in order that corrective actions can be taken to avoid similar situations in future. 

Enclosure:

• Nil

Disclaimer:

This Technical Circular and the material contained in it is provided only for the purpose of supplying current information to the reader and not as an advice to be relied upon by any person. While we have taken utmost care to be as factual as possible, readers/ users are advised to verify the exact text and content of the Regulation from the original source/ issuing Authority.                              

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