Near miss: Hose parted

A member has reported an incident in which a hose parted. The incident occurred whilst an anchor handling tug (AHT) was delivering deck cargo and fuel oil to a drill ship. Crew noticed that the hose was fouled below the water line of the AHT. Pumping was immediately stopped and the hose was blown down. The hose was then disconnected from the vessel manifold. Anattempt was made using the drill ship crane to pick up the hose but this was unsuccessful. The AHT tried to clear the hose by going closer to the drill ship. Attempts were made to use both the AHT vessel crane and the drill ship crane to free the hose, and while this was happening, the hose parted. No oil leak was observed.

Our member noted the following:

• Root cause: Floatation collars were missing on the hose;
• The parted hose could have fouled the ship’s propeller resulting in a dangerous situation;
• Lessons learnt/preventive action:
  • the length and condition of the hose should be checked before work starts
  • where necessary, floatation collars should be used on hoses
  • willingness to stop the job needs reiterating.

Members may wish to refer to the following incidents (search words: hose, parted, fouled):

• Bunkering hose cut by propeller
• Oil spill incident
• Unplanned release of 960 litres of hydraulic oil