Another Accident at Sea

[moktay]

National May. 30, 2014 - 03:06PM JST ( )


A coast guard boat fights a fire onboard the oil tanker Shoko Maru off the coast of Hyogo Prefecture on Thursday. AFP TOKYO —
Divers on Friday were searching for the captain of an oil tanker that exploded and sank off the coast of Hyogo Prefecture.
The coast guard deployed six patrol ships, as well as several airplanes, to the area where the nearly 1,000-ton tanker Shoko Maru went down around 10 hours after it erupted in a fireball on Thursday.
Seven of the eight Japanese crew were rescued, including one who remained unconscious with severe burns covering his entire body, but the vessel’s 64-year-old captain is still missing
After the accident, the transport ministry urged tanker operators nationwide to step up safety measure, a spokesman said.
The fire was likely sparked as a crew member used a grinder to remove rust on the ship, Transport Minister Akihiro Ota told a press conference.

[Captain Kong]

Thanks for that Moktay, I saw it on TV a couple of times, it was on Al Jazeera News, dont show seafaring articles on BBC very often.
There was a large hole in the deck above the starboard after tank , I just wondered if they were tank cleaning at the time and Not gas free.
Cheers
Brian.

[j.sabourn]

My tanker experience is very limited to about 12 months. During that time I have no recollections of any chipping and scraping going on. Both ships I was on were only gas free one time each during that period. I assume on tankers such work as chipping would be restricted to a gas free state. Tanker crews as I saw them were much more safety conscience than dry cargo men, in fact at the time I think some went over the top, however when you see the results not yet the cause being ascertained you can see why. Cheers John S

[happy daze john in oz]

'Using a grinder to remove rust'.
Well looks as if he did a bloody good job, no sign of rust now!

[Red Lead Ted]

My tanker experience is very limited to about 12 months. During that time I have no recollections of any chipping and scraping going on. Both ships I was on were only gas free one time each during that period. I assume on tankers such work as chipping would be restricted to a gas free state. Tanker crews as I saw them were much more safety conscience than dry cargo men, in fact at the time I think some went over the top, however when you see the results not yet the cause being ascertained you can see why. Cheers John S

John , I like yourself was only in one tanker. But it beggars belief to think a grinder was used anywhere aboard a tanker gas/oil/ or otherwise, I can remember using the old windy hammers, But even them you were restricted in certain areas of the ship. It was as you say chipping hammers, But if you were carrying a cargo of high combustion the chipping of anywhere on deck was put off for obvious reasons. You would think in these days of health and safety being so stringent. And if this ship was crewed by Japanese seaman who are competent, Someone has made a big boob here. Very surprised Terry.

[Captain Kong]

From the photos I saw, the deck all around the Starboard after tank had disapeared. Just a BIG hole. similar to a tank explosion.
Tank cleaning can cause explosions, even a drop of water falling down can create enough static electricity to cause an explosion.
The tanks have to be Gas Free when tank washing. I think she was light ship and in ballast.
. In the 70s or 80s two Shell tankers , M Class had massive explosions when tank cleaning.
Test proved that Static from water drops caused enough Static to cause the explosions.men killed and the fore deck was folded over the bridge.
Read here.........................

. The industry had then already been rocked by mysterious explosions on board three new VLCCs all within a period of 18 days. Marpessa, the largest vessel ever lost – owned by Shell, London – exploded and sank off Senegal on her maiden voyage. Two men were killed. Two more lives were lost when a second Shell tanker, Mactra, exploded in the Mozambique Channel. Finally, the Norwegian super tanker, Kong Haakon VII, owned by Hilmar Reksten, met her destiny after an explosion off Monrovia on Africa’s west coast, but with no loss of life. These two disabled tankers blackened by fire nevertheless managed to reach port having suffered less critical weakening of their structures than the Marpessa.

The tankers in question were all returning to the loading area in ballast condition, and the explosions seemed to have occurred whilst their tanks had been cleaned by mechanical rotating water guns. Whole deck areas of the tankers, 400 metres long, were ripped off by the explosions as though attacked by a giant can opener. Questions were asked about whether the explosions were connected with discharge of static electricity caused by the cleaning procedures.
.
/
. Tankers were then being fitted with an inert Gas system
Exhaust gases from the engines went through a scrubber plant and then into each tank under pressure, So no oxygen , no explosion or fire,.
A lot of smaller tankers were not fitted due to the cost.
Cheers
Brian.

[vic mcclymont]

The MActra spent a year in Durban whilst repairs were carried. She had a large hole in her sides just in front of the accommodation, you could see straight through her.
The repairs were welding beams to her deck and sides.
When she left for Japan for a full repair, LLoyds insisted that a tug sail with her even though she was stronger at that point when she was built.

[Des Taff Jenkins]

HI All.
I spent a lot of my time on tankers, it looks if Brian is right that we were lucky as we were one of the first BTC to use the Butterworth, gear revolving hoses but they were if I remember brass to prevent sparks.
I remember a tanker explosion in Swansea docks as one was discharging. And we had a fire on one tanker up the Gulf which gave us a bit of a tingle around the rear end, but that was promptly doused.
Cheers Desredc.gif

[robpage]

I saw the Kong Hakken VII in Senegal , It looked like the deck had been peeled back like a sardine can , then went on board the Mactra in Durban , with a Shell engineer found in a local pub , the hole in the tanks would take the 8,000 tonne cargo ship I was on straight in to it . Thank the powers that be for inert gas

[Captain Kong]

On VLCCs now they do not use water for tank washing, because of the danger of Static.
Tanks are inerted with exhaust gases.
A branch line comes off the main Discharge line to each Butterwoth plate on deck. The Butterworth machine with its programmed rotating head is then fixed to it. As the crude oil is being discharged the rotating hose is blasting the sides of the tank as then level goes down until the bottom and the
bottom of the tank is blasted. and all the rust, scale and sludge is discharged with the cargo,
No need to go down the tank digging out sludge like we used to do.
.
On product tankers, Petrol etc, a tiny drop of Petrol will create gas. and very difficult to get rid of,
tank cleaning was more time consuming. and took a hell of a long time, A tank that had carried Petrol had to be really clean if DFO , [Diesel Fuel Oil ] was being loaded into that tank so it was not contaminated.
Each tank took hours and hours to gas free, because of the pools of petrol at the bottom of the tank that the main suction could not remove.
ESSO had a scheme, `Coin Your Ideas`, If you had a good idea that saved work, safety or money then you got an award of several pounds.
I Invented the "APE System" for extracting every drop of petrol from the tank bottoms so tank cleaning and Gas Freeing was very quick. This saved many hours along side gas freeing for the whole fleet and the savings for the company was millions of pounds a year in turn round time for the fleet of product carriers, I rigged up a temporary system on my tanker and it worked, and so the system was fitted to all the tankers at dry dock time.
I never got a penny for the idea. ESSO saved millions.
APE, = Aspinall Patent Eductor.
Sometimes you just cant win.
Hope this explains the systems that have changed over the years.
Cheers
Brian


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