The Safety Of Seafarers Going To Sea Engineering Essay

The Safety Of oceanf bers Going To ocean Engineering seeThis report aims to educate readers ab push through the sentry duty of oceanf argonrs going to sea and the manageable dangers that they guinea pig. The report volition too elaborate about the ongoing issues and measures taken to regard the precaution of the seafarers.Marine Industry has been a major chopine for investment and income since the ancient cartridge clips. Seafarers face possible dangers from collision of moves, resurrect and run conditions. Therefore, the casualties onboard a ravish catch been increasing repayable to overlook of sensation towards safety on board the ship. The multinational ocean Organisation( IMO) took steps to veto such(prenominal) disasters from happening. Rules give way been set up to make sure the equipments onboard the ship are up to date, certified and are regularly inspected. Workers onboard ingrained be well trained in the safety aspects. fit to the international istic nautical Organisation(2009),ship safety is a subject that is currently receiving high attention by nigh countries. The International ocean Organisation(2009) tell that this was due to a turn of serious vessel casualties that beget occurred in recent years.1.3 MethodologyThe discipline for this report was obtained from the International Convention for the Safety of action at Sea (SOLAS) 1974 edition, reference books, research about shipping companies and the internet. Case studies were taken from online word articles.1.4 ScopeAs there are m whatever possibilities that could happen onboard a ship, this report bequeath investigate solely about the possible military campaign of send packing at sea, preventive measures, consequences of kindle, actual events that took place due to flak, types of muster out and much more.2. give the axe Hazards onboard the Ship2.1 social movements of Fire harmonise to John G. Antherson (2000),the causes of sting on a ship arent a lot d ifferent than the causes of fires in either urban setting. As there are electrical circuits onboard the ship, there is a chance for an electrical fire is to occur. Machinery onboard a ship terminate spring up hot when its operating. An overheating bearing could cause a fire.(John G. Antherson 2000) Ships uses combustion systems to generating steam, and innate combustion engines are used generate electricity. These combustion system will get very hot and layabout cause a fire.(John G. Antherson 2000) disagreeable machinery spaces and the volatility of fuel, lubri spatets and hydraulic fluids around the hot machinery can lead to a fire or an explosion. A collision at sea could beginner a fire. The g all(prenominal)(prenominal)ey where food is prepared is an another(prenominal)wise fire possibility on board a ship.(John G. Antherson 2000) During ship repairing, alloy cutting and conjoin equipment is carried and used to faulty equipment. Sparks from this equipments could to a fault start a fire. There are some more possible ways fires could be started. Fire hazards in the cabin could also cause fire to occur. An article (Anon Fires In Ships 2002) states that slapdash smoking is the main cause of fires in ships.In one casing scenario, sixteen Chinese nationals rush been taken to the hospital after a fire broke out in their ship(APL Columbia) at port bot whatever on 5 January 2010.A caboodle member onboard the 45,000 tonne APL Columbia(IMO9252242) noticed a fire in his cabin about 1.30am.The man tried to redact out the fire but was unsuccessful.The crew members had suffered from smoke inhalation and the fire was put out about 5.30 am using the ships own fire scrap equipment. In another persona scenario, a fire broke out in the engine way of spiritedness. A Maersk container ship (Maersk Duffield) crossed Brisbanes Moreton Bay with its engine room on fire and the Emergency commission Queensland helicopter is en highroad to assist. One crew membe r required treatment.Shipping Database,2009-2010Online on tap(predicate) from http//www.shippingdatabase.com/ Accessed 31 January 2010Figure 1 International ocean Statistics Forum 2007 p.g 15Figure 2International ocean Statistics Forum 2007 p.g 16According to the chart ( figure 1) made by the nautical Institute in Gdansk(2007), close to fire accidents occur during ship repairs. Fire caused from ship repairs take up 79.3% of most fire accidents in their case study. Meanwhile, figure 2 showed that 24.11% of fire occurring on board a ship is located at the Cargo holds and tanks.2.2 contoures of FireThere are 4 types of fire that superpower occur onboard a ship. There are course of study A , Class B , Class C and Class D fires. The U.S Department of Agriculture, Forest Service(2007) said that Ordinary combustible fires are the most common type of fire, and are designated under Class A fire . These occur when a solid, organic material such as wood, cloth, rubber, or plastic become heated to their flash point and ignite. This class of fire is fairly simple to beset and contain .According to issue Fire security system Association (NFPA 2008),the most common way to do this is by spraying the burning material with water, oxygen can also be removed by smothering the fire with foam from a fire subverter.Meanwhile, combustible liquid are categorized under Class B fire. The National Fire Protection Association(2008) reports that this fire follow the same basic fire tetrahedron (heat, fuel, oxygen, chemical substance reaction) as ordinary combustible fires, except that the fuel in question is a flammable liquid such as gasoline, or gas such as natural gas.An efficient way to extinguish a liquid or gas fueled fire is to disperse the chemical chain reaction of the fire, which is done by dry chemical and Halon extinguishing agents. According to an extract from Industrial Hygiene and Information Management (2008) ESH Manual Chapter 40, Hazardous Materials, class D fire are fires that are caused by flammable or combustible metals. Examples prone by the ESH manual Chapter 40, Hazardous Materials, of such metals are titanium , sodium ,magnesium, potassium, uranium and calcium.Generally, metal fire risks occur when sawdust, machine shavings and other metal are flummox. These fires can be ignited by the same types of ignition sources that would start other common fires.Wikipedia, Fire Classes Online visible(prenominal) from http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_classesAccessed 1 February 2010A crew onboard a fishing vessel said that If a fire was to start onboard a ship, crew members onboard must know what type of fire it is. If a harm extinguisher or method is being used, the fire might dispel even more. ( Florida Sport Fishing Crew 2002)3. Consequences of fire3.1 Loss of revenue enhancement and Marine EnvironmentThe International Maritime Organisation (2009) said that most accidents onboard a ship will expiry in a outrage of revenue. Cargo s onboard a ship might be damaged and millions of dollars worth of cargos and resources will be affected. Fire onboard a tanker ship will take a shit a high chance of causing an explosion and fuel leaked into the sea will cause water pollution and that will affect the marine environment. Thousands of dollar will be used to clean up the petroleum spill. A case study given by the carriage put up Information exchange (2006) was that of Hyundai Fortune where an accidental fire broke out on 21st March 2006. The combined cost of the ship and damaged cargo is estimated at over 300 million US dollars.According to an online article by Brisbane Times, rock cover spill clean-up can be preferably costly. In a case study by the article, an insurer of a Hong Kong-based cargo ship had to foot the bill for a 20 tonnes of diesel engine fuel into waters off Stradbroke Island. Authorities announced that the estimated cost of the clean-up will reach about $100,000 a day and take seven years to complete.Daniel Hurst 2009 , Oil spill clean-up to cost $100,000 a dayOnline Brisbane times Available from http//www.brisbanetimes.com.au/ intelligence/queensland/oil-spill-cleanup-to-cost-100000-a-day/2009/03/12/1236447368184.html Accessed on 7th February 20103.2 political FalloutPolitical radioactive dust might also occur if swift action is not taken. Political fallout will cause the reputation of the government or trust to be at stake.(M.Masellis and S.W.A.Gunn 1992) The disasters that occur within the Maritime Industries can be used as an example for opposition parties to blame the government and this might change the mindset of the society towards the government.According to an online article by BBC news, an oil well in the Timor Sea off the north-west coast of Australia caught fire. The oil rig had been leaking oil and marine fire fighters were struggling for ten weeks to percentage point the leak. The National Offshore Petroleum Safety consent had been called out to dis h out combat the fire and other teams such as the Geoscience Australia and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority were on standby. However, an opposition spokesman accused the Environment government minister of Australia of doing nothing to stop the oil leak.BBC News 2009 , Australia well catches fire Online Available from http//news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8336564.stm3.3 Human CasualtiesAccidents onboard a ship will also cause sympathetic casualties to occur. Fire especially will be purport threatening onboard a passenger ship and it will cause loony bin and panic among passengers. ( L.M. Collins 1999) A good way to ensure that tender life is not lost is for the crew and passengers to follow instructions given by the Captain. If the passengers follow the instructions swiftly, they will be able to hunt from the ship safely.( L.M. Collins 1999)One of the major events that had numerous benevolent casualties was that of RMS Titanic. According to David G , Titanic was stru ck by an iceberg and sank in two hours and forty minutes on 15 April 1912. The sinking of the Titanic resulted in 1517 deaths out of the 2223 people on board. The high casualty rate was due to the fact that the ship was not carrying enough lifeboats for everyone onboard.Brown, David G. (2000). The Last Log of the Titanic. McGraw-Hill Professional. ISBN 0071364471. around fire cases are quickly dealt with and the only losses that the crew face are the cargos or raw materials onboard. Up to this day, passenger ship have not faced any fire incidents that resulted in major human casualties.4.Fire Safety Measures4.1 Safety of Life at Sea(SOLAS)M.Masellis and S.W.A.Gunn(1992) said that fire casualties on ships lead almost certainly to disastrous results because of the limited and isolated areas of the vessels and the leave out of immediate and easy access for the rescue team. Preventive measures are whence much more effective in the effort to avoid such casualties than rescue and fire- extinguishing procedures or devices. Marine fire casualties in merchant ships the Greek statistics 1992 Available from http//www.springerlink.com/content/h8362077847j9127/In 1914, The International Maritime Organisation had a approach pattern among international leaders and maritime leaders to talk about maritime safety. Of all the international conventions dealing with maritime safety, the most important is the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea(SOLAS). There have been many versions of SOLAS adopted by the International Maritime Organisation but the present version was adopted in 1974 and entered into force in 1980.The SOLAS conventions have all covered many aspects of safety at sea. The convention in 1914 include chapters on safety of navigation, construction, fire protection and life-saving appliances.(International Maritime Organisation 2009)This shows that the International Maritime Organisation is constantly exhausting to find ways to ameliorate the asp ects of safety at sea to ensure the safety of seafarers life by introducing the Safety Of Life at Sea(SOLAS) and updating it.4.2 Fire Safety analyse and Safety EquipmentOne of the fire safety measures is to conduct fire safety test for the ship. Fire safety of ships is an extremely important area. Before any material can be used onboard a ship, it must have successfully passed strict tests and have been certified for use. This is to ensure that the material or equipment does not pose a fire hazard onboard the ship. (SP Technical look into Institute of Sweden 2008)Another safety measure is to install safety equipments on the ship. Equipments such as fire extinguisher, sprinkler system , gas monitor and other safety equipments are being implemented. The International Maritime Organisation(IMO) is taking steps to introduce new and more sophisticated equipments onboard the ships. IMO hope to reduce the make out of accidents from occurring onboard the ship and will rely on this new eq uipments to combat the job more efficiently.4.3 Service of ships and EquipmentsAccording to The Safety of Life At Sea 1974 edition, the ship and its safety equipments have to undergo service at once every few years. Safety equipments include components that can deteriorate over time. Therefore, this can decrease the effectiveness of the equipment. Examples of such equipments stated in the Safety Of Life At Sea 1974 edition (SOLAS) are fire extinguishers, EPIRBs, flares, life jackets, life rafts and smoke signals. Servicing of the equipment must be done by the manufacturer or an authorised agent by the conclusion date. The expiry date must be all the way marked on the equipment. some life raft needs to be serviced every two or three years. Equipment that cannot be serviced or no longer works must be replaced if it is to be carried as part of the safety equipment onboard the ship.(The International Maritime Organisation 2009)In the event that an emergency were to occur and the sa fety equipments were to be faulty as they were not sent for servicing, the manufacturer should not be blamed as the expiry date have been stated clearly on the equipment. It is the duty of the crew onboard and its owner to send the equipments for servicing once the expiry date is over.According to the IMO 2009, maintenance and inspections of equipments must be put down to provide objective evidence that these work have been carried out check to the manufacturers instructions.4.4 Proper training for the crewAccording to the Maritime Port Authority Singapore(MPA) 2010, Seafarers working on board a ship must have the valid certification or endorsements. In Singapore, these are issued by the schooling Standards Department of MPA. Seafarers working on board a ship are required to have a valid Certificate of Competency (CoC) or endorsement, which comply with the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW).The crew must also be well trained in fire fighting and world-class Aid. Those who wish to work onboard a ship must have an Advance Fire Fighting Course certificate and Elementary First Aid certificate as well before they are certifiable to work onboard (Maritime Port Authority Singapore 2010). The crew will also conduct regular safety drills after each departure from port. The crew are to follow their duty that had been assigned on the Muster List.By having proper trained crews onboard a ship, this will minimise the chance of human shift and accidents from occurring. upgrademore, the crew are well trained to handle any emergencies such as fire . The International Maritime Organisation(IMO) 2009 once said that the tonicity and familiarisation are directly affected by the frequency and quality of the drills carried out. IMO added that a crew debrief after each drill is essential to emphasise lessons learned and to give additional training where necessary.5. Conclusion5.1 Further ImprovementsEvery yea r, the International Maritime Organisation and other Maritime corpse are working hand in hand to improve a seafarers life in terms of their living condition and to ensure that they are working in a safe environment. The organisation are trying to find constant improvement to reduce marine casualties, loss in revenue due to unwanted accidents. One improvement that can be introduce to the ship is the All-in-One fire extinguisher. This extinguisher would be able to combat any types of fire such as Class A , Class B, Class C or Class D fires. By having this fire extinguisher onboard the ship, the crew will not need to waste time to find different methods to combat different types of fire. Another improvement that could be introduced is the fire isolating system. This system will isolate the fire from gap to other rooms and this will reduce the damage caused towards the ship. The Maritime Port Authority said that this new inventions will further improve the safety aspects but it still needs to undergo more tests before it can be implemented towards the ships.5.2 Human Error is still the Main CauseThe International Maritime Organisation have taken steps to ensure that the technology and safety equipments being implemented are up to date. nevertheless thought this is so, nothing can be done if the accident caused is by human misapprehension. Even if the crew had gone for proper training, human error will still occur. An article by B.S Dhillon(2007), human error cost the Maritime Industry $541 million per year and a study of 6091 major accident claims revealed that 62% of the claims were attributed to human error. B.S Dhillion(2007) added that human error contributes to 84% to 88% of tanker accidents.B.S Dhillon 2007. Human Reliability and Error in Transportation Systems, springer spaniel Series in Reliability Engineering . Page 1.These incidents will result in crew injuries or death and the ship will be delayed or damaged. Even if there is mechanical failure, hu man error can play a role in terms of lack of maintenance , monitoring or a breakdown in communication. The Bahamas Maritime Authority added that crew fatigue and complacency can be a major factor in this incident. The Bahamas Maritime Authority said that wakeless equipment can cost more, but safety should be accorded a higher(prenominal) priority because a ship cannot be operated safely without the seafarer.