The Marine Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) has shown the results of an investigation into a death in an enclosed space on cargo ship Seren last year.
What happened
On 19 August 2024, a fatal accident happened on board the Hong Kong registered multi-purpose dry cargo ship Seren during cleaning of a fuel oil tank (the FOT) at Suez Southern Anchorage, Egypt. A foreman of the shore cleaning team lost his life in the accident.
The vessel was anchored at the Suez anchorage. A team of shore workers was employed to clean the FOT and then repair the ruptured bulkhead of the FOT, which was damaged during the cargo loading operation at the last port. Following the toolbox meeting between the ship crew and the shore cleaning team, the cleaning operation commenced and continued intermittently. In the early hours of the fourth day, two shore workers rushed out of the FOT and reported that a fellow worker had been injured inside the FOT. Upon being notified of the incident, the foreman immediately entered the FOT in haste, carrying a flashlight and wearing a breathing apparatus mask. Under the ship crew’s effort, the injured worker was successfully rescued from the FOT about three hours later. He later regained consciousness. However, the foreman could not be found inside the FOT until around five hours after he had entered it. He was eventually rescued from the lower platform of the FOT, but showed no vital signs.
The investigation revealed that the main contributory factors leading to the accident were:
the ship crew, the safety engineer of the shore cleaning team and the foreman failed to strictly follow the safety requirements for enclosed space entry and did not carry out a detailed risk assessment for the cleaning operation in accordance with the shipboard safety management system (SMS);
communication between the ship crew and the shore cleaning team, or among the team members themselves during the cleaning operation was ineffective; and
both the foreman and the shore workers demonstrated a lack of safety awareness and underestimated the risks and potential hazards associated with enclosed space entry.
Lessons learnt
In order to avoid the recurrence of similar accidents in the future, owners, master and personnel working on board should learn lessons from this accident and note the following:
strictly follow the requirements of shipboard SMS to ensure that all persons on board comply with the safety requirements and procedures for enclosed space entry;
strictly follow the requirements of shipboard SMS to conduct a detailed risk assessment on board for cleaning operation inside enclosed space;
enhance effective communication between ship crew and shore workers; and
closely supervise operations carried out by shore workers on board and take immediate action to ensure safety if any dangerous situation is observed.
