What happened? An offshore support vessel (OSV) was underway to field loaded with cargo when a sudden drop of starboard main engine RPM was observed. The main engine dialog screen […]
Safety Flashes
IMCA safety flashes disseminate important information on incidents and potential hazards and the lessons learnt from them that can help prevent incidents occurring elsewhere in the industry.
Individual safety events are available individually online, tagged and searchable, while the traditional PDF collections are also available for download.
Submit a Report
All members are encouraged to contribute relevant safety-related information – please visit our Safety Flash Reporting page for details on the submission process.
IMCA Contact
Nicholas Hough
Technical Adviser - HSSE and Offshore Survey
Contact
Safety Events
Costly damage to azimuth thruster caused by fishing gear
What happened? A vessel equipped with two azimuth thrusters, was performing operations alongside an offshore platform, when inappropriate vibrations were noted from the starboard azimuth thrusters and its hydraulic pump. […]
Life raft self-activates and falls to the quayside
What happened? A life raft self-activated and fell from its cradle from the vessel deck, 8m down onto the barriered quayside bollard area. The weather temperature at the time was […]
Unplanned deployment of free fall lifeboat
What happened? On a vessel alongside there was an unplanned deployment of a free fall lifeboat (FFB), which no-one was aware of. There were no witnesses to the inadvertent launch, […]
Potential dropped objects in frame pockets
What happened? The Marine Safety Forum (MSF) has published Safety Alert 18-20 on Potential Dropped Objects in Frame Pockets. When preparing a heavy lift to be discharged from an offshore […]
Dropped object: first aid injury during ROV maintenance
What happened? A tooling tray guide arm fell from an ROV skid rail slot and hit an ROV technician’s torso. He was beneath the ROV disconnecting the securing pin. Two […]
Two serious dropped object near miss
Two further dropped object cases have been reported recently, highlighting the extreme danger and potential for fatalities. Incident 1 A light and fitting on a third-party ship, weighing 8kg, fell […]
Dropped object: crane floodlight
What happened? A floodlight fell from its position on the knuckle boom of the vessel’s crane. The floodlight arrangement was supported on a stainless steel bracket, comprising a bar and […]
Dropped pipe incidents with potentially fatal consequences
What happened? During line pipe load out operations, three high potential near miss incidents occurred involving quayside crane lifting operations. All of the incidents had the potential for fatal consequences […]
Pro-active intervention prevented high potential dropped objects
What happened? During inspection of the vessel crane, it was noted that a steel spacer plate had become partially detached due to corrosion forming behind the plate. The plate had […]
Two ‘accident advisories’ relating to diver fatalities
The Workplace Safety and Health Council of Singapore (WSHC) has released two ‘accident advisory’ notices relating to two recent diver fatalities. Incident 1: diver struck by falling concrete pile A […]
Diver fatality during subsea lifting operations
Note: This incident is still under investigation. What happened? During the removal of a spool at 172msw, divers were engaged in lift bag operations to relocate the spool to a […]
Serious injury caused by energy isolation failure
What happened? A yard worker was cleaning debris from underneath a hydraulic pipe. Whilst performing this task, the worker placed his forearm on a hydraulically operated pipe stand. This put […]
Unplanned stored pressure release: worker struck by gas cylinder – company fined
What happened? The UK HSE (UK Health and Safety Executive) has fined a company for health and safety breaches after a technician was struck by a cylinder and left severely […]
Near miss: unplanned release of 2″ blasting hose outlet from air receiver coupling clamp
What happened? During blasting and painting operations conducted at an onshore worksite, a near miss incident occurred when a 2″ blasting hose outlet released from the coupling clamp connected to […]
High potential near miss: working on pressurised pipeline
What happened? During the dewatering of a 6” flexible jumper, a near miss incident occurred when the pull head was removed whilst it was still under pressure. This resulted in […]
Auto-ignition of laundry items
What happened? Cloths used for general galley cleaning were removed from a tumble dryer, immediately folded and piled in a steel bucket. Three hours later they were stowed in a […]
Fire in the accommodation: electronic items in cabins
What happened? An incident occurred on board a vessel which almost escalated into a serious accommodation fire. A crew member finished his work for the day and returned to his […]
High potential near miss: unplanned handling of unexploded ordnance
What happened? During debris removal/recovery operations being undertaken along a subsea cable trenching corridor, several items of unexploded ordnance (UXO) were bought to the surface and landed on deck with […]
Near miss: onboard O₂ bottle leaked into diving bell
What happened? The entire contents of the onboard O2 bottle leaked into the diving bell during a bell run at -140m, causing a much higher than normal PPO2 reading. (2.2 […]
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