200151 Engine Room Flooded

Engine Room Flooded
Report No. 200151

A supply vessel was conducting a ballasting operation. The fore peak tank was to be filled. The engineers had not followed the correct procedure of checking all valves prior to starting pumping. The consequence of this omission was that a valve, which should have been closed, was left open. When the ballast pump was started, the water went directly into the bilge well and subsequently flooded the engine room. All engineers should be familiar with the engine room pipe layout and the crew should be instructed in the correct procedures for each operation.