Incident Date:

Date of incident not available.

Summary:

The overheating of an engine coolant jacket water heater was found to be the cause of a lifeboat full of smoke.

Incident consequences (potential or actual):

No details available.

Cause of accident or incident:

No details available.

Activity Location:

Fixed Installation

Activity Type:

Sea transport

Description:

During checks on lifeboat radios, one of the lifeboats was found to be filled with smoke. The electrical supply was disconnected and the north door was opened to allow the smoke to clear.   The overheating of the engine coolant jacket water heater was found to be the cause. The electric heater was temporarily bypassed to allow the boat to be put back in service.   The investigation found that a combination of a faulty thermostat and leaking coolant were the main contributory factors.   The coolant had leaked due to a combination of two things. The hoses were damaged due to high temperatures, resulting in the ends becoming brittle and a galvanized steel jubilee clip had been fitted to a hose instead of a stainless steel clip; the treads had stripped, allowing the hose to turn freely and coolant to leak.   All other lifeboat engine compartments were checked and all water heater hose clips were replaced with stainless steel clips. The planned maintenance routine has been updated to include more frequent checks of the heater and the thermostat.

Specific Equipment:

No details available.

Lessons Learnt:

1. Regular maintenance was carried out but no specific mention of thermostats was included in PMR.
2. Unauthorised substitution of galvanised steel clip instead of stainless steel clip resulted in loss of coolant.

Task Description:

No details available.

Recommendations:

1. Lifeboat planned maintenance routines should be checked to confirm that the regular calibration and function testing of water jacket thermostats is included.
2. Check all hose clips to ensure that they are constructed of stainless steel.
3. Ensure all replacements parts are constructed and fitted as per manufacturers recommendations – beware of the risk of unauthorised modifications.

Contact Details:

Malcolm Webster - BP, 01224 834812

Figures:

No figures available.

Usage details:

To view a printer-friendly view of this page, click this printer icon then use either the browser´s print button or the Print button at the base of the new window. Alternatively, you may email a PDF version of this alert.

Discussion messages relating to this alert are linked to under Related Information (see above). To start a discussion either submit your comments to us or email us at info@stepchangeinsafety.net