Awareness: CO₂ flooding system activation points

A member has highlighted a potential gap in safety awareness which may be of interest to members.  One of their vessels has a COâ‚‚ flooding system activation point within the main COâ‚‚ bottle room – however, there are no warnings or procedural guidance on the use of Breathing Apparatus (BA) within the main COâ‚‚ bottle room when operating the system.#

Our member drew the following lessons:

• When activating flooding systems there is a chance that COâ‚‚ may leak into the space itself, either directly from the cylinders and/or associated piping.  As such, the space may quickly fill with COâ‚‚, presenting a hazardous atmosphere to persons inside;
• Therefore, after seeking guidance from the maritime fire-fighting school, our member recommended the use of BA whenever;
  • entering the COâ‚‚ cylinder space after activating the system from a remote point
  • when activation of the COâ‚‚ system is required from within the COâ‚‚ cylinder space itself, or
  • whenever undertaking drills within the COâ‚‚ cylinder space;
• Steps were taken to review relevant vessel specific procedures and, where required, update them to include guidance on the use of BA equipment in COâ‚‚ cylinder rooms/spaces.