What immediate action should be taken if a ship unexpectedly runs aground and stops

What immediate action should be taken if a ship unexpectedly runs aground and stops

Grounding accident & emergency response for liquefied gas carriers

If the vessel encounters a dangerous situation that may develop into an emergency, it is extremely important that the whole crew know exactly what they should do to save their lives and minimize damage.
The crew must be drilled to take certain actions more or less automatically. However, nobody must act without considering the superfluous consequences. These plans should be used actively during emergency drills.

Grounding accident and immediate action

In the event of the vessel grounding or stranding, the actions to be taken by ship’s personnel will inevitably depend of the seriousness of the incident and the damage that it may have caused to the vessel’s structure and systems.

For example, the grounding might have occurred under pilotage with tugs in attendance, whereby the ship has left a channel and taken to ground on a soft sand bank where the only damage is to the bottom paintwork and slight indentation to the hull. Conversely it could be that the ship has run onto a coral shoal in the middle of nowhere, head on, at full speed and occasioned substantial damage to the hull, possibly causing severe flooding to the engine room, ingress of water to other compartments and damage to the cargo systems, tank structure and insulation.

Action to be taken

A complete and accurate record, containing all times and details of the incident, shall be kept in the Deck Operations Log, ensuring that copies of all radio communications are included. Should outside salvage assistance be required, details of all salvers and any assistance rendered, by each or all of them, must also be accurately recorded. If possible, any salvage services should be contracted on the ‘No Cure-No Pay’ basis of the Lloyds Open Form of Salvage Agreement. A copy of this form is in SOPEP.

Should any shifting of ballast, cargo or bunkers be necessary to counteract changes in list or trim caused by the incident, the proposals should be sent to the Damage Stability Provider and to Ships management ashore to enable the vessels stability and effects of the stresses on the vessels hull to be calculated by their naval architects.

Similarly should the jettisoning of cargo be deemed necessary to enable the vessel to be re-floated, this should only be done after full consultation with, and the approval of, the DPA and / or the vessel management ashore.

Engine room procedure to follow after grounding

The engineering staff may not be in a position to ascertain that the ship is aground and in normal circumstances will be informed by the bridge. However any grating noises along the ships hull in the machinery space should be considered a possible grounding or collision. In the event of grounding no attempt to re-float the ship will be made without first carrying out a thorough inspection to ascertain any damage.

Immediate action after grounding

a) Sound the general alarm, inform the engine room

c) Determine extent of the damage by monitoring tank levels and by bilge alarm system

d) Attend any injured people

e) Start ballast pumps / bilge pumps if required

f) Ch. Eng. to inform Master regarding bunker tanks and possibility of oil spill, take measures to avoid it

g) If oil spill in progress, try to minimise and confine

h) Determine stability and bending moments/shearing forces by Load Master

i) Keep vessel upright as far as possible in case of flooding in ballast tanks, by ballasting or de-ballasting other tanks

j) Supply inert gas to hold spaces for inerting hold spaces if necessary

k) Decide whether there is a need for emergency discharge overboard by jettisoning. If jettisoning, remember that two cargo pumps are advisable in order to maintain the necessary velocity at the jettison nozzle

l) Consider – whether external assistance is needed, if it is estimated that the situation will worsen

m) Inform CMSI, Authorities, Insurance/P&I, Owners, AMVER/AUSREP, MAS

Emergency Procedures: Actions to be taken in case of ship grounding

Above image is used for illustration purposes only

Ship grounding accidents are mostly caused by human errors, sometimes by inadequate information related to the port or because of unknown coral reefs and rocks. Maneuvering inattention and improper navigational operations should be listed as the most usual root causes of major ship grounding accidents as well. While, faulty navigation instruments, bad weather conditions or an engine breakdown, can also lead to unintentional groundings or stranding. Such accidents effect on both the ship and the environment, but the worst scenario is to lead in the loss of human lives. This article underlines the seriousness of unintentional ship grounding.

The term ‘unintentional grounding’ in shipping describes the accidental impact of the ship on seabed or waterway side. However, grounding can also be intentional in order to land crew or cargo (beaching) or to conduct maintenance or repairs (careening). Intentional grounding demands very careful maneuvering and high navigational skills, as any misunderstanding or wrong decision may lead to unfavorable situations. Nevertheless, it is the unintentional grounding that we must pay more attention and operators should ensure that crew members are aware of the emergency actions that should be followed in such cases.

Real life grounding incident

A bulk carrier, laden general cargoes of plywood & steel products, left from Lianyungang, China on 30th June 2013 bound for Busan, Korea in order to load some more steel cargo shipment. Subsequent dates, the vessel approached to southern out-harbor anchorage on 2nd July 2013. As passing harbor limit of Busan, Master came into bridge in order to proceed to Busan harbor anchorage to drop anchor with the bridge team. The vessel passed to Busan VTS limit with her course 356 degrees and her speed 11.5 knots, and reported to VTS center and then was instructed by VTS to drop anchor at N-4 anchorage upon arrival. When the vessel approached to N-4 anchorage with maneuvering speed and course, it was found to be too crowded around the N-4 anchorage and Master requested VTS to re-allocate another anchorage and in turn VTS instructed the vessel to drop anchor N-5 anchorage with keeping 4 cables distance to other vessels.

Action in case of Grounding

When a vessel runs aground accidentally, it is called Stranding. As a result, the double bottom area of the vessel suffers considerable damage, especially if the ground is rocky. The Master of stranded ship shall first secure the safety of crew, cargo, vessel and the environment and should

CHIEF OFFICERS DUTIES IN CASE GROUNDING :

After grounding there is no damage to hull or watertight integrity. What will you do next?

I will call for an underwater survey.

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Running Aground (Ship Grounding)

What is Running Aground?

Running Aground occurs when there is no longer deep enough water to float a vessel. This will sometimes be done intentionally, for instance to perform maintenance or to land cargo, but more than likely it occurs due to misinformation about water depths, operator error, or a change in the bottom structure of a waterway.

What is the Best Way to Avoid Running Aground?

If you follow these three guidelines, you should steer clear of rocks, sandbars and other underwater hang-ups that’ll bring your happy day of boating to a grinding halt.

#1 If you’re boating in unfamiliar waters, take some time before launch to consult a nautical chart of the area. You should also talk to local marinas and boaters to get the inside scoop on local underwater hazards. They know where to go and where not to.

#2 Always keep a proper lookout while boating. Not only should you be looking for buoys and markers that indicate shallow waters, but you also need to keep your eyes peeled for shoals and sandbars that can be hard to spot. You might be surprised to know that most accidents happen on calm, clear days with light winds. Often it is simply not keeping a lookout that gets boaters into trouble.

#3 Always maintain a safe speed. This will allow you to take necessary action if you do spot an underwater hazard that needs to be avoided.

A final tip is that if you have a depth finder, you can set a shallow alarm alert to give you the heads up if you are headed towards somewhere you don’t want to go.

But remember that a depth finder does not replace the need to always keep a proper lookout. Never rely solely on a depth finder.

What Should You Do If Your Boat Runs Aground?

So, your day of boating has come to a sudden stop. What now?

Like any accident, the first step is to stop and assess the situation. So, stop the engine and check if anyone is seriously hurt.

If the answer is yes, contact the authorities on your VHF radio and send out a distress signal right away to alert other boaters that you need help.

If no one is seriously injured and you’re not in immediate danger, take a moment to check your boat’s hull.

Has the boat sustained any serious structural damage? Do you see any cracks or leaks?

If so, stay put. Do not venture into deeper water. It’s time to get your boat to shore. Flag down another boater for a tow or radio for assistance.

If there’s no structural damage, it’s time to try getting your boat loose.

Depending on what you’re grounded on and how severely your boat is hung up, you may be able to get back on the open water using one of the following methods.

The first is reversing off. If your boat is not grounded too severely, you may simply be able to reverse off from where you’re grounded. Put your engine into reverse, tilt the engine slightly upward (if it’s an outboard or an inboard/outboard), and then shift some weight away from where the boat is grounded. Now try to reverse your boat into clear water.

Another method is pushing off. If reversing out doesn’t work, turn your engine off. If you have an outboard engine, lift it out of the water. Now, shift some weight to the part of the boat that is not grounded. With the weight off of the grounded part of the boat, use your spare oar or paddles to push off of the bottom. If you ground your boat on a sandbar, there may be enough sand around your boat that you can stand on the sandbar and try to push your boat off. With your engine turned off, lift the bow or stern, and push your boat into deeper water.

Finally, you may need to use a kedge anchor. A kedge anchor is a small lightweight anchor that is used to haul a grounded boat off from where it has run aground. Typically, a kedge anchor will be brought from shore in a small dinghy. But it can also be walked out to the location of your boat using a PFD or flotation device as support for the anchor.

Once at the boat, attach the kedge anchor to the anchor line, set your anchor securely on the bottom, and use it to pull the boat off from where it is stuck.

Alarms/Emergencies Essentials for Engine Department

For effective usage of the limited emergency equipment available on board, all personnel must be aware of the location of fire-fighting equipment and life-saving appliances and be trained in their use. They must also be aware of the alarm signals, recognize them, and muster at the muster point in case of any type of emergency.

As you know all the alarms should be well heard in the engine room. It should be remembered that the general alarm will be sounded in the event of fire, collision, grounding, cargo hose burst, major leakage or spillage of oil cargo and some other events. Other alarms could include engineer alarm for unmanned machinery spaces, carbon dioxide alarm, fire detector alarms, cargo tank level alarms and refrigerated store alarm

But if your ship’s alarms are ringing, often it does not mean that the situation is out of control. Alarms are warnings, which are sounded so that crew onboard take the emergency measures like wearing their life jackets, or gathering at a common point (muster station), depending upon the type of emergency and instructions given to them. There are four emergency teams on a board to handle with any emergency after hearing the certain alarm.

The command center or roving commission is located on bridge. The emergency team 1 is tackling with the emergency. In general the chief officer will lead the team for the emergency on deck while the 2nd engineer will take charge of engine room emergencies. The Support/Standby Team or emergency team 2 is to provide first aid and prepare the lifeboats for lowering. The Technical/Engineer’s Team or engine room control (ERC) team maintains the propulsion and maneuvering capability of the ship and auxiliary services.

Engine room flooding and engine room fire are two main emergencies on ships. When engine room floods, the propulsion will stop automatically if left unnoticed. In the unmanned machinery spaces (UMS) it is important that the bilges and all alarm systems must function properly to give warnings when such emergencies happen.

A ship floats on water surrounded by the sea on all sides. The engine room will usually be under the surface of the water, for example, on a ULCC or VLCC ship, the bottom platform of the ER is almost 10 to 15 metres below the water line. The main sea water line covers almost all parts of the engine room. This is a huge diameter pipe running forward and aft of the ship. The engine room is totally restricted from open atmosphere, so no water can go out except the normally designed piping system. It is not possible to throw/pump out anything from engine room as it may violate the Marpol rules and regulations. Thus engine room flooding is so dangerous; it may even hamper the safety of the ship.

Because of the large quantities of fuel in engine rooms there is a risk of quick fire spread over the whole area. Engine room fires can also produce failures of operationally important systems away from the engine room. That can endanger crew even at some distance from the seat of the fire. Except the machinery control room there are in general no permanent fire boundaries within the machinery area.

Exercise 3. Give brief answers to the following questions:

1. What are the reasons to give a general alarm? 2. How many groups are on a board to tackle with ship’s emergency? 3. What are the main emergencies that can happen in the engine room? 4. What does UMS mean? 5. How can any crewmember find out about his emergency duties? 6. Why is it dangerous to neglect the leakages in the engine room? 7. What can you say about the safety rules for the engine department staff? 8. What actions should you carry out after the general alarm? 9. Why is a fire in the ER so dangerous?

Exercise 4. Give equivalents:

· in Russian: flooding, to pump out contaminated seawater, to close the flaps, to spread, to malfunction, collision, to give the alarm, muster station, to take charge of, machinery space, explosion, crude oil carrier, control room, to tackle emergency; to function properly, to lead the team for the emergency on deck, to spread very quickly over the whole area, a pipe running forward and aft of the ship, to hamper the safety of the ship;

· in English: разрыв шланга, место сбора, нештатная ситуация, аварийная партия, штатное расписание, бороться с огнем, откачивать воду, утечка, пробоина, столкновение, посадка на мель, машинное отделение с безвахтенным обслуживанием, резервная парта, очаг огня, распространение огня, отключить оборудование, покидать судно, общесудовая тревога, сигнал тревоги, вспыхивать (об пожаре).

Exercise 5. Read the dialogue and then make up your own one.

A: The fire is in zone nine.

B: Is anyone down there?

A: No, I don’t think so. Take the Fourth engineer and go to zone nine and see what the problem is.

B: Yes, Sir. Take the Fourth and go to zone nine and see what the problem is.

A: Chief Engineer to Bridge.

C: Bridge, Captain.

A: We’ve got fire in the E.R. We have shut down all the ventilation fans and we are closing the ventilation flaps and stopping the engine.

B: Understood, Chief. Keep us informed?

A: How large is the fire?

B: It’s difficult to say. There’s a lot of smoke but there are no flames.

C: Fire in zone nine, believed to be in workshop. This is a genuine emergency.

D:The Second Engineer will lead the fire party. The fire party mustered.

C: Bridge to Mate, fire party mustered. The muster is now completed.

B:Second to Bridge. I will inspect the fire.

D:I will advise you when the party leaves the muster station.

Notes:

Exercise 6. Match the term with its definition.

Exercise 7. Choose the right variant.

Exercise 8. Read the texts and answer the following questions.

· What is the main problem of the former/later text?

· What are the main reasons of the emergency described in the former/later text?

· What are the actions of the crew in case of the emergency mentioned in the former/later text?

Engine Room Fires

Special regulations regarding structural fire protection apply to fuel-transporting systems. There is a fixed fire fighting installation. In part-time unmanned engine rooms there are fixed fire alarm systems. Every fire in the machinery area brings with it the risk of expansion into a large fire. It is essential to order immediate closing-down of the area and interruption of the fuel supply, provided the navigational situation permits this. All valves of oil tanks and fire dampers in engine room may be shut off from the control box for emergency shut in ER. To fight the fire the fixed fire fighting installations are used.

If a fire is found on board it must be extinguished immediately with the available equipment, and the fire alarm must be given. When the alarm sounds the ship’s officers and crew should immediately follow the standing instructions laid down in the ship’s fire plan.

Engine Room Flooding

The engine room flooding can take place due to mainly two reasons such as leakage from equipment or system and crack or hole in the ship’s hull because of the collision, for example.

Leakage in the engine room space from machinery or sea/fresh water system can be caused by the failure or cracks in a sea water pump. Sometimes water comes from sea water or fresh water cooler and from boiler feed water system.

Speaking about actions to be taken in such situations it should be mentioned that the sooner faultwill be found, the better the crew will tackle with an emergency. The defected equipment is to be isolated and other circulating system has to be started. Then the engineer on watch informs chief engineer regarding the leak and follows the instruction from him.

If the engine room flooding arises due to crack in the hull or small hole in the hull, the engine room staff should perform the following actions. At first the size of the leakage should be detected.By all means, the leakage has to be minimized and finally stopped. If the leak is not big enough, then cement box is to be put in place of the leak and repairs are to be done accordingly. Otherwise, the captain has to decide whether the ship is safe place to stay or not and decision for abandoning the ship has to be made. In case of abandon ship signal being announced, the engine room staff should muster to their respective lifeboat and abandon ship operation should be carried out.

Exercise 9. Translate the sentences into Russian.

1. Leakage of any ballast water tank in the double bottom of the engine room, leakage from manhole, or crack in the water tank can also lead to engine room flooding.

2. Grounding of ship in shallow areas may cause buckling (искривление, повреждение) in the engine room area where sea water starts to enter the engine room directly or indirectly, it may happen when hull gets ruptured in the way of bilge tank or any other tank causing it to overflow.

3. Collision of the ship with other ship or with berths/jetty in the way of engine room may cause flooding.

4. If the sounding pipe is not of self-closing or the cap is left open, and that particular tank gets filled up and left unnoticed, may lead to flooding of engine room.

5. All members of the technical staff must know all the ship emergency codes in detail, Mr. Skylight, Mr. Mob, Code Blue, and Oscar are some of the ship emergency codes followed by mariners.

6. While ER flooding at sea, it may require shutting down the plant, stopping engines and start emergency generator, shutting the main sea suction valve, to carry out repair works.

7. All members of the crew should receive appropriate training in accordance with their role at the time of emergency.

8. The emergency duties of any crewmember are stated in his individual/personal muster card according to Muster number.

Exercise 10. Translate the sentences into English.

1. Главный (старший) механик при общесудовой тревоге отвечает за ходовую вахту в машинном отделении и проверяет аварийное оборудование.

2. Второй механик при общесудовой тревоге управляет аварийной партией (группой) машинного отделения и несет ответственность за ее подготовку к борьбе за живучесть судна (damage control).

3. Третий механик при общесудовой тревоге является вахтенным механиком, обеспечивает работу главных и вспомогательных механизмов, пожарных и осушительных насосов.

4. Если на судне нет электромеханика, то при общесудовой тревоге третий механик выполняет их обязанности.

6. Пожар/Взрыв может возникнуть из-за неверного использования оборудования, самовозгорания (spontaneous combustion), неосторожностью с открытым огнем или курения.

7. Столкновение или посадка на мель происходит из-за отказа механизмов или руля, халатностью при несении вахты или навигационных ошибок.

8. Течь возникает при повреждении корпуса, палубы или люковых закрытий.