Main Engine – Officer of the Watch

Engine Room Fire Onboard Asphalt Tanker – Investigation Report

March 24, 2014 by Officer of the Watch 1 Comment

At about 1230 local time on 9 January 2009, a fire accident happened onboard the Hong Kong registered asphalt tanker “An Tai Jiang” when she was en route from Ulsan to Ningbo. The fire started inside the engine room and spread into accommodation spaces. The accident resulted in the deaths of the Third Engineer and a motorman inside the engine room, and another motorman lost at sea after falling into water. The engine room and crew accommodation sustained serious damage. There was no oil pollution to marine environment.

Breakdown and Subsequent Drift of Bulk Carrier – Investigation Report

September 23, 2013 by Officer of the Watch 1 Comment

During a morning of May 2012, while transiting the Coral Sea, Bulk Carrier’s ID Integrity main engine shut down when its fuel pump reversing mechanism came free and jammed. This caused the camshaft to bend and slip in a drive coupling which resulted in the camshaft being out of timing and therefore the engine could not be restarted. The ship drifted in a westerly direction towards the Australian coast and the Great Barrier Reef. During the afternoon of the next day the ship passed over Shark Reef, located about 60 miles east of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Luckily the incident ended without causing any damage to the environment or further damage to the ship’s systems, but the incident had the potential of evolving into a serious accident.

Incident Information on Contamination of Main Engine Lubrication Oil by Seawater

August 9, 2013 by Officer of the Watch Leave a Comment

This incident refers to the contamination of a ship’s main engine by seawater. The engine room bilges became flooded due to a leaking sea water pipe. Proper actions were not taken when the alarm sounded, so the leakage was first discovered when water had reached the engine room floor plates. Consequently, the leakage was stopped, bilges emptied and the ship resumed its voyage. Shortly after resuming the voyage, the main engine stopped due to low lubrication oil pressure.

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Filed Under: OOW FOCUS Tagged With: bearings, bilge systems, DNV, lubrication oil, Main Engine, oil contamination, Technical

Incident Information on Severe Bearing Damage in the Main Engine due to Spark Erosion

July 5, 2013 by Officer of the Watch Leave a Comment

This incident information refers to bearing damage in the main engine of a tanker due to spark erosion. A tanker for oil was on a voyage in the Mediterranean Sea in loaded condition. The crew noted and monitored an abnormally high temperature in one of the main engine’s crankshaft bearings. Suddenly the lubrication oil pressure sank, the oil mist escalated in the crankcase and the engine had to be shut down immediately. The ship experienced a loss of propulsion and drifted for several hours. Finally, the cargo had to be unloaded from the vessel, which was then towed to a repair yard.

Engine Worn Out by Catalytic Fines

May 24, 2013 by Officer of the Watch Leave a Comment

DNV has over the last years seen an increase in engine damage due to catalytic fines, even though the bunkered fuel has been in accordance with ISO 8217 marine fuel specification and fuel treatment is standard procedure and implemented for all vessels. Damage (incident occurred in 2010), that can be traced back to catalytic fines occurred after only 100 running hours, making the engine totally inoperable. All pistons and liners were totally destroyed and had to be changed.

Auxiliary Engine Start Up With High Pressure Air From Breathing Apparatus

December 21, 2012 by Officer of the Watch Leave a Comment

A standby vessel stationed close to a drilling platform, experienced a “black-out” which was caused by water contamination of fuel and occurred shortly after switching from one service tank to another. The water was drained from the tank and fuel system. The main engine was restarted and was running normally. To provide electric current for lighting, steering etc., one of the auxiliary engines had to be started. Upon trying this, it was discovered that the spare starting air bottle was empty although the pressure gauge indicated full pressure.

Main Engine Damage Due to Fuel Contamination from Dry Cargo

December 7, 2012 by Officer of the Watch Leave a Comment

When a bulk carrier was at sea, high exhaust gas temperatures were noted and several piston rings were found broken after investigation. The rings were renewed and engine restarted. After some hours of running the main engine it malfunctioned once again and more broken rings weer found. The broken rings were again replaced, but then the engine failed to start and the vessel had to be towed to port. A considerable number of piston rings were broken. Excessive wear of liners and piston crown grooves were also found. The fuel oil used was suspected to be a probable cause, although the quality of it was not found abnormal according to the test report.