A tanker was in port and discharging oil product. During the discharge, deck crew noticed a small leak coming from the manifold reducer. The incident resulted in a review of the way reduces are stored on board the ship.
The Nautical Institute gathers reports of maritime accidents and near-misses. It then publishes these so-called Mars Reports (anonymously) to prevent other accidents from happening.
In this case, after the oil leak was discovered, the shore installation was advised and discharging was immediately stopped. The manifold reducer was removed and replaced with another. A pressure test was carried out and discharging was recommenced.
The company investigation found that there was a small groove in the manifold reducer which had caused the leak. It was concluded that the reducer had been installed without proper inspection before use. Furthermore, it was now understood that by storing the various reducers on a metal rack, the reducers were exposed to continuous metal-to-metal contact, thus accelerating rust and associated damage. A wood backing plate or rubber gaskets would reduce these risks.
Advice from The Nautical Institute
- Often, repeated operations become so commonplace that certain basic precautions can be overlooked, like in this instance inspecting the reducer for damage before installation and use on the manifold.
- Hazards in plain view! The reducers had always been stored on a metal rack, but no one had thought about improving this arrangement until an incident occurred.
Mars Reports
This accident was covered in the Mars Reports, originally published as Mars 202045, that are part of Report Number 334. A selection of this Report has also been published in SWZ|Maritime’s September 2020 issue. The Nautical Institute compiles these reports to help prevent maritime accidents. That is why they are also published on SWZ|Maritime’s website.
More reports are needed to keep the scheme interesting and informative. All reports are read only by the Mars coordinator and are treated in the strictest confidence. To submit a report, please use the Mars report form.
