IADC – Maritime Accident Casebook

Yet Another Confined Space That Wasn’t

Accident, Accident report, confined space, enclosed space, SafeSpace, Safety Alerts Comments Off

Dec 132010

Hazards in confined spaces can reach out and touch you even if you haven’t taken a sniff inside. MAC is warned more than once to beware of ‘confined spaces that aren’t’ and here’s another one from the International Association of Drilling Contractors site, IADC, to add to them.

Vessel maintenance was being conducted on an accommodation barge. Preparation was being made to enter a tank at the base of a column to undertake quarterly planned maintenance of the leakage detection system. The injured party removed a manhole cover to gain vertical access into tank at the base of the column. Within one minute of removing the manhole cover the gas detector alarm sounded and the IP lost consciousness on the floor of column next to the open tank hatch.

Bolt Strip Drops Lifeboat

Accident, Accident report, davit-launched, lifeboat, lifeboat accidents, maritime safety Comments Off

Jul 212010

An adjusting sheave enclosed in a capture or preventer box

While lowering a lifeboat the threads of a sheave tensioning bolt used to adjust the sheave and secure it to the davit structure stripped. The bolt thread failure allowed the sheave separate from the davit structure creating 20 feet of slack in the bow fall wire. The slack wire allowed the bow of the lifeboat to drop into the water and the weight/force was transferred to the supporting fall/wire at the stern. This incident caused severe damage to the stern lifeboat deck area, warns the International Association of Drilling Contractors in a Safety Alert.

Says the alert: “An offshore rig recently experienced a property damage incident when a lifeboat davit component failed while performing a scheduled weight test of a lifeboat. Water bags were used to apply necessary weight to achieve maximum lifeboat capacity for the function test of release gear and davit components.

Safety Alert – IADC Caution on Lifeboats

davit-launched, freefall, lifeboat, lifeboat accidents, lifeboat safety, Safety Alerts Comments Off

Aug 212009

Lifeboat, or Mandarina, from Usumacinta evacuation: IADC cautions on IMO solutions

IADC, the International Association Of Drilling Contractors, has issued warnings to its members regarding lifeboat safety in the wake of several incidents over the past year and guidance by the IMO.

SAYS IADC “Interest has been heightened due to the circulation of a dramatic video of a lifeboat incident, and an incident resulting in one fatality and injuries to six other personnel during a planned lifeboat drill on a MODU.”