What happened Whilst filling a bucket from a hose, someone was adversely affected by the contents of the hose. The incident happened whilst two engineers were in the process of […]
Safety Flashes
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.
Submit a Report
All members are encouraged to contribute relevant safety-related information – please visit our Safety Flash Reporting page for details on the submission process.
IMCA Contact
Nicholas Hough
Consultant - Safety and Security
Contact
Safety Events
Three bolts sheared on a lifting trunnion
What happened After successful installation of a offshore renewables Transition Piece (TP), crew accessed the TP and discovered that the cover plate of the lifting trunnion had fallen off and […]
Master links came free from lifeboat release hooks, releasing the lifeboat
What happened A vessel was alongside waiting on weather when the decision was taken to use the opportunity to complete annual checks, including lifeboat and davit annual inspections. This included […]
LTI: person fell down hatch inside crane pedestal
What happened Two service engineers where performing an inspection inside a offshore crane pedestal. Inside, there was a ladder running the full height of the crane pedestal, with a hatch […]
UK HSE: uncontrolled movement of fabrication caused injury
The UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has prosecuted an engineering company after an employee sustained life-changing injuries whilst welding an industrial steel fabrication. Press release here. What happened A […]
Fire door left wedged open
What happened During a routine visit to a vessel in port, it was noticed that the Class A fire door for the laundry was intentionally wedged open with a wooden […]
Lifejacket battery caught fire
During an inspection on a vessel in cold lay-up, the lifejackets stored underneath a sitting bench in the wheelhouse were found burned and melted. No-one was harmed; apart from the […]
American P&I Club: unfamiliarity with semi-portable fire extinguishers
As part of its Good Catch for Seafarers safety guidance, the American P&I Club has published an alert which highlights the importance of familiarity with fire-fighting equipment. What happened? A […]
Safety Flashes – a review of 2021
This is a summary of the thirty-four IMCA Safety Flashes published during 2021. All the published safety events or incidents are available on the IMCA website as individual web pages […]
MSF: Crankcase failure
What happened The Marine Safety Forum has published Safety Alert 21-19 relating to a crankcase failure. A vessel suffered a crankcase failure on one of four diesel generators, which resulted […]
Oil leakage from cylinder head cover
What happened After completion of regular planned maintenance on one of the main engines, the cylinder covers were mounted back. However, the cover of cylinder number one was not mounted […]
Importance of safety by design: acoustic beacon damage in splash zone
What happened During recovery of tugger winches on an A-frame workstation, the headache ball experienced normal movement when exiting the splash zone. However, in this instance, the headache ball came […]
ROV main lift failure
A termination failed during launch of an ROV for a test dive, and the ROV/TMS assembly fell to the seabed. No-one was harmed. The umbilical termination slipped through the wirelock […]
Failure of 64mm polyester rope in subsea mooring operations
What happened A 64mm polyester rope parted during the lowering of subsea equipment to depth. The failure occurred between the Mooring Line Deployment Winch (MLDW) and the pennant, due to […]
Crew member stopped unsafe cargo operations
What happened During third-party cargo operations from the dock to the vessel it was noticed that the lift was being conducted using a wire set with no colour code and […]
UHMPE pull-in rope damaged during mooring connection to buoy
What happened A synthetic pull-in rope used in a subsea mooring operation was violently pulled out of the control of an ROV. The ROV was pulling the thimble side of […]
UK HSE: Employee in shipyard killed by falling steel post
The UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has prosecuted a shipbuilding and repair company after an employee was fatally injured when struck by a 10m steel post. See press release […]
Watch your hands!! person injured while using an angle grinder
What happened A member of the crew was badly injured whilst cutting a piece of wood using an angle grinder fitted with a cutting blade. He was cutting dunnage for […]
Cyber-security – malicious spoofing and phishing
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) has released very timely Marine Safety Information Bulletin (MSIB) 19-20 relating to malicious email spoofing incidents. The USCG notes that there are increasingly sophisticated […]
Vessel ran aground causing major hull damage
What happened A vessel left port and started a transit. During the first part of the voyage, the vessel was overtaking another vessel and the decision was made to pass […]
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