It is not uncommon for ship owners to engage shore contractors to service their vessels. The ISPS Code requires the contractors’ identities to be recorded in the ship’s visitor log when they report on board for work. The company’s safety management system (SMS) has procedures to orientate these shore contractors before they are allowed to commence work, i.e., when they are on board, the contractors must comply with the ship’s Safety and Security policies after successfully completing shipboard safety familiarization conducted by qualified ship’s personnel.

Case study 1 – Fire and explosion in the pumproom

The ship was at a repair berth to fit new equipment in the pumproom. Its owner engaged a shore company to carry out the above job. The company sent six of its workers on board, but the ship’s visitor logbook did not have record of these workers boarding her. This implied that gangway duty crew either did not ask for the workers’ personal detail to be recorded in the visitor logbook or no proper gangway watch was in place. When on board, and although it was part of the SMS, there was no evidence of shipboard safety familiarization being conducted for these workers.

The Master and Chief Officer have endorsed some work-related SMS documents, e.g., pumproom/compressor room entry permit and permit to work etc. prior to work being permitted to be carried out in such spaces. Personnel who were permitted to work were identified in the documents but the six workers who were engaged to work in the pumproom was not identified in those documents. This implied that the workers would not be involved in the above work that required permit to work.

Thereafter, the workers carried out hot work in the pumproom. There was no permit or other SMS required documents, e.g., hot work permit, risk assessment, etc. issued for such work. Bridge duty officer (BDO) and his deck watch crew (DWC) were not aware of the activity in the pumproom. However, DWC did see one worker standing outside the pumproom entrance. He also saw ‘flashing lights coming from the pumproom’. DWC did not include the above pumproom situation when he reported to BDO the status of his half-hourly safety deck rounds and checks. Suddenly, an explosion sound was heard from the pumproom, followed by fire. All workers managed to escape from the pumproom except one. Subsequently, ship crew managed to evacuate the latter, who was unresponsive. Shore medical team arrived at the ship to treat the unresponsive worker and pronounced him dead at the scene.

Why did it happen?

Despite having an SMS that requires safety familiarization for contractors working on board, the master, who was designated to ensure the completion of the above safety familiarization did not do so as per the SMS.

Despite not being briefed on the shipboard SMS and obtaining formal approval from the ship, the workers proceeded to carry out work activity without SMS guidance and on their own without permission.

DWC’s safety deck rounds were not effective because when he saw some pumproom activities during his watch, he neither clarify with the worker nor BDO when he saw a worker standing outside pumproom and the ‘flashing light’ from the pumproom.

Commentary

This was a situation where ship personnel had shown lapse in control by letting ‘strangers’ (shore workers in this case) on board their ship to carry out activities without prior approval of the ship staff. The master and his crew omitted in exercising their duty and responsibility on the shore workers in accordance with the shipboard SMS for assessment and approval of work to be carried out safely by external parties. If they would have done so, injury and fatality might had been averted. Notwithstanding the master and his crew’s omission, the shore workers contributed to the mishap in some extent.