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IMCA safety flashes disseminate important information on incidents and potential hazards and the lessons learnt from them that can help prevent incidents occurring elsewhere in the industry.

Individual safety events are available individually online, tagged and searchable, while the traditional PDF collections are also available for download.

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All members are encouraged to contribute relevant safety-related information – please visit our Safety Flash Reporting page for details on the submission process.

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Nicholas Hough
Consultant - Safety and Security
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Underwater rigging failure

During the recovery of two 400kg buoyancy blocks from the seabed a swaged eye of a strop failed and one of the blocks rose uncontrolled to the surface. No one […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 01/99

Structural failure of a transponder housing

Recently it was reported that the end of a transponder stored in an on-shore workshop blew off. The transponder had been in storage for a couple of months after being […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 01/99

Subsea lifting and dropped loads

A number of incidents have been reported where loads have been dropped during subsea operations, with the following causes being identified: Failure of mechanical latches; Modified ‘off-the-shelf’ rigging; Lack of […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 01/99

Crane incident

A serious incident occurred on a fixed installation while dismantling a Unit – Mariner 3600 portable crane. Three people were seriously injured and a fourth was lost overboard and did […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 03/01

Failure of an X-90 ROV lars system

Whilst deploying an ROV using a Tekmar X-90 LARS launching system, the main umbilical sheave and docking assembly dropped approximately 0.5m leaving it supported only by the hydraulic roll control […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 04/98

DP incident

Following a recent DP incident, which occurred when alongside a fixed installation, a contractor has issued the following safety notice. There was no damage or injury to either personnel or […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 04/98

Exploding diffuser

During testing and operation of a bell blow down valve, a sintered bronze silencer/diffuser blew apart. Due to extensive fragmentation of the diffuser it has been impossible to determine the […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 04/98

Failure of valve visual position indicator on subsea Christmas tree

During well decommissioning, problems were experienced when attempting to open two annulus swab valves on subsea trees. Several attempts were made to open the valves using diver intervention. Onshore inspection […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 04/98

Use of a diffuser

A diver has been found to be suffering from tinnitus and ear pain. It is thought that this has been caused by using the bell emergency blow down with no […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 04/98

Electrical installation onboard ships

A contractor member has reported that they have experienced a number of potentially serious incidents involving electric shocks to personnel working on what was thought to be isolated electrical machinery […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 03/98

FPSO experienced loss of stability while discharging cargo

During a cargo transfer to a shuttle tanker, an FPSO suffered a loss of stability such that the vessel’s metacentric height was reduced well below that required by the installation’s […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 03/98

Fatal accident involving a boom crane

A recent incident has been reported to IMCA. The 350T/96m long boom of a derrick lay barge (DLB) 2500 short tonne revolving crane broke, crashed onto the deck, fell into […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 03/98

Parted green pin plate lifting clamps

An incident occurred during the loading of a plate girder (weight approximately 12 tonnes) onto a cargo barge. As the girder was being lowered two out of the four certified […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 03/98

Crane wire failure

A member has alerted IMCA of a failure of a crane wire during the recovery of an ROV. As the ROV was being swung inboard by the ROV system, the […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 03/98

Slewing, storage and securing of gas quads and ships

A contractor member has reported several near misses/incidents due to the positioning of quads, resulting in damage to regulator boxes and pillar valves. In order to address these incidents, the […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 02/98

Contamination of divers air supply

An incident occurred on a DSV where a diver’s air supply became contaminated with fumes from an overheated electrical compound. This caused the diver to fall unconscious in the water. […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 02/98


Man killed by falling ROV equipment on a drill rig

A member has alerted IMCA to a fatal accident on a Drilling Rig. The accident involved an individual who was assisting to move a ROV hydraulic power pack, weighing 6,000 […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 02/98

Electrical power supply to ROV equipment

When wiring up the trailing lead of a piece of ROV equipment to a junction box on the ship’s electrical supply, an electrician incorrectly identified the trailing lead wires and […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 02/98

Electrical integrity of an ROV

During a vessel ROV mobilisation in port, a subcontractor’s 3-phase hydraulic power unit was connected to the vessel’s power supply. The unit was energised without either inspecting the third party […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 01/98

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