During a ballast operation at night, while at a shipyard in order to trim the vessel for drydocking, it was discovered that the engine room was flooded. Damage to submerged electrical equipment occurred Furthermore, the engine room had to be cleaned after the flooding. The ballasting could, however, have caused serious consequences for the safety of the vessel and sinking if not discovered in time.
West of England P&I issued an alert regarding ballasting while loading or discharging from barges in response to a number of cases recently where dry bulk products stowed inside barges made fast to the ship have been damaged by ballast water. Incidents of this type may lead to significant cargo claims and are almost always avoidable.
On two occasions the vessels concerned were discharging into barges and ballasting simultaneously. During the ballasting operation the double bottom tanks were flooded and water overflowed on to the main deck. The water then rained away via the overboard scuppers and into the open holds of barges moored alongside.
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Officer of the Watch 