Gas explosions on general cargo ship Nortrader with 1 person injured

Location: Plymouth Sound, England.

From:
Marine Accident Investigation Branch
Published
7 December 2017
Vessel type:
Merchant vessel 100 gross tons or over
Report type:
Investigation report
Date of occurrence:
13 January 2017

Accident investigation Report 26/2017

Investigation report into marine accident including what happened, safety lessons learned and recommendations:

MAIB investigation report 26-2017: Nortrader

Annexes to MAIB investigation report 26-2017: Nortrader

Photograph of general cargo ship Nortrader

Summary

On 13 January, at 1447, Nortrader, anchored off Plymouth with a cargo of unprocessed incinerator bottom ash (U-IBA), suffered 2 explosions in quick succession. The first explosion was in the forecastle store and the second in the cargo hold. The chief engineer, in the forecastle store at the time, suffered second degree burns requiring 4 months to recover. The vessel suffered extensive damage putting it out of service for over 3 months.

Safety lessons

  • Sea transportation of a cargo that was not included in the schedule of authorised cargoes of the International Maritime Solid Bulk Cargoes (IMSBC) Code

  • Not conducting appropriate tests that could have identified the propensity of the cargo, U-IBA, to release hydrogen when wet

  • The inadequacy and the inappropriateness of United Nations Test N.5 for the detection of flammable gases from non-homogeneous material

Recommendations

MAIB has made safety recommendations to:

  • The Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the Environment Agency (2017/153) to work collaboratively to identify reliable methods and protocols for testing non-homogenous solid bulk cargoes for the property of evolving flammable gases when wet

  • The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (2017/154) to update The Merchant Shipping (Carriage of Cargoes) Regulations 1999 with appropriate references to the IMSBC Code

  • Hudig & Veder BV (2017/155) to review its operating procedures to ensure that the requirement to apply the provisions of IMSBC Code to all cargoes is clear

  • NTO Shipping GmbH & Co.KG (2017/156) to review its safety management system to ensure that the requirement to apply the provisions of the IMSBC Code to all cargoes is clear

A safety flyer to the shipping industry highlighting a number of the safety lessons was produced for this report.

Published 7 December 2017

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