Real Life Incident: Engine Room Fire

On a Saturday afternoon the engine room was prepared for UMS and, at 1500, the Bridge was informed that all checks had been completed and that the Engine Room is now in Unmanned Mode. At 1653 hrs the duty engineer received an alarm in his cabin, he went down to the Engine Room and found the following alarm on the computer in the Engine Control Room:

” HFO purifier No. 2 abnormal”

He then went to check the purifier room and on the way he realised there was a strong smell of plastic burning. Upon investigation, it appeared that the smell was coming from the Group Distribution/Starter Board which supplies power for the purifiers, automatic filters and fuel pumps. Realising this, the duty engineer ran to the Engine Control Room to call the ETO for assistance. Upon the ETO’s arrival, they switched off the power supply to the switchboard and the ETO started to open the panels to see which one was overheating. Meanwhile the Duty Engineer called the bridge to advise them of the problem. Upon hearing this information, the Bridge sounded the General Alarm. The Master, upon arrival on the bridge, activated the Emergency Shut Down and the main engine stopped.

Meanwhile the ETO found the defective box which, when opened burst into flames. The ETO immediately grabbed the closest portable extinguisher, which happened to be the 45ltr foam extinguisher, and put the fire out. A full investigation followed, and all other equipment in the Engine Room was found in good order. The fire being localised to HFO purifier starter.

Root Cause

Due to the damages sustained by the equipment in the box, it was impossible to precisely determine the root cause of the fire, however it is strongly believed that either a faulty ammeter or control transformer located in the panel had overheated due to an electrical fault, this then burst into flames upon the door being opened. Evidence of any usual failure mode has been destroyed by the fire but inspection for high resistance faults (loose connections) on Contactors/Overload Devices/Ammeters/MCCB was carried out on the other HFO purifier starter and nothing unusual was found, although we do consider this the next likely cause.

The external continuity of the circuit feeding signal current to the HFO Purifier Control Box from the current transformer in the starter was specifically checked. Nothing unusual was found and therefore this was unlikely to have been the cause of the fire.

Lessons learnt

• It is of vital importance that all procedures are followed. As can be seen from this accident, the UMS procedure was strictly adhered to, the alarms were tested prior to changing over to the Unmanned mode. The Bridge was also informed.
• The Duty Engineer responded to the alarm immediately and not only accepted the alarm but ran a thorough investigation in order to satisfy himself as to the cause of the alarm.
• Expertise and good emergency training of the crew provided quick and effective action.
• The fact that the nearest extinguisher was a foam type endangered the user. We urge all our vessels to check areas with switchboards and electrical equipment and ensure that CO2 extinguishers are placed in these areas.
• It was extremely important that the ETO and Duty Engineer had switched the power supplies off before using the foam extinguisher.
• We would strongly recommend personnel follow the fire procedures when dealing with such incidents. For example, none of the doors should be opened without first being checked for temperature.
• We would also like to draw the attention of our sea staff to the fact that Activating Emergency Stops is not always the best/safest option. In this case the vessel was not in congested waters and the shaft generator was not in use, but in other circumstances the vessel may have blacked out. This would have been the last thing needed in an emergency, where the Fire Pump, Steering Gear and other vital equipment are required.
• Communication with the office during and after the accident was of the highest standard. The Emergency Team was activated, the Charterer, P and I and Flag State were also advised immediately.

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