Real Life Incident: Vessel Grounded after Blackout

A 207 metre long Ro/Ro container cargo vessel was outbound from the Port of Brisbane. Both main engines had shaft alternators coupled to a single shaft, as well as two generators available to supply electrical power.

On this day, the starboard generator was out of service pending repairs, so the starboard main alternator was engaged in parallel with the port generator to supply necessary power.

The port main engine was declutched directly after leaving port. The main engines and generators were cooled by the same water cooling system. About two hours after leaving port, whilst still in the NW channel of Moreton Bay, all power was lost to the ship, including steering.

An anchor was immediately dropped, and the ship came to rest with the bow in deep water, but the stern had swung and grounded in shallower water.

roro — Image for representation purpose only

The Chief Engineer reported that the starboard alternator had dropped off the switchboard; thus, the port generator took the entire ship’s load. This generator subsequently overheated, and the automatic cut-out engaged. It was found that the cooling system had been set for the main engines, with the seawater bypass partially closed to allow for greater heat for the main engines to burn heavy oil. When the generator took the entire load, the available cooling water was insufficient to dissipate the increased heat generated by the generator working on its own. Power was restored some hours later, and the ship returned to port, where an inspection revealed no damage.

The Lessons

Under normal operation, both generators would be operating when entering or leaving port. In this case, only the port generator was available, so was engaged in parallel with the starboard main alternator. No reason was found for the starboard alternator failing. The contingency of one generator taking the whole ship’s electrical load had not been considered.
There was no provision on any engine room checklist to ascertain the setting of the cooling system bypass valve.

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