200142 Three Men almost die in tank

Three Men almost die in tank
Report No. 200142

A vessel was discharging a cargo of fish oil. The cargo tends to solidify into a cake like substance at normal room temperature, so near the end of the discharge, it is a normal practice for the crew to go down into the cargo tanks and shovel the cargo towards the bell mouth. The procedure is quite safe as fish oil is a non-hydrocarbon cargo, however the lack of oxygen in the tank was always borne in mind and enclosed space entry procedures were strictly adhered to, until this incident took place.

One has to wonder why, in spite of so much being written concerning this procedure, so many deaths and accidents take place. Do ships crew take this issue very lightly?

The OOW was on cargo watch and the mate was in the adjacent office handing over to his relief. Tank levels had come down and one of the tanks was being stripped. The bosun and the crew were asked to get ready to go down into the tank to shovel out the residue cargo, the tank dome being opened at that time. However, no forced ventilation was employed and no tank atmospheric checks were carried out. The bosun asked the OOW permission to go down into this tank to shovel the cargo, the OOW in turn relayed the message to the Mate who, in a very complacent manner, authorised it and resumed his handing over. The message was relayed back to the bosun by the OOW who was now concentrating on the other tank levels which were steadily falling down.

After about 10 minutes the A.B on watch came running and said that the bosun had fallen down in the tank. Immediately the emergency alarm was sounded and a full rescue team prepared to muster near the tank. However, in the meantime, the fitter who had seen the bosun fall, noticed that the bosun was caught up on the access ladder rungs and assumed that the bosun had slipped because of the oil and should be prevented from falling to the bottom of the tank. The A.B. therefore entered the tank to help the bosun. He managed to reach the bosun and lift him onto a horizontal platform and then he also passed out. Seeing the fitter fall on the bosun, the deck boy standing near the tank entrance entered the hatch to help his colleagues, the pumpman seeing him trying to enter the tank tried physically stopping him, but the young man with a show of strength and contempt for his senior brushed him away entered the tank and collapsed on top of the other two men. A Rescue Team arrived and all three men had fully recovered by the time the vessel left the port.