Figaro - Inadvertent Release of CO 2

Car ship Figaro

This story is not new, but is very interesting : Read the excellent summary at the Monitor Not your average comedy. The vessel had to be taken into tow.

A LARGE car carrier was disabled by an inadvertent release of the ship’s fire-extinguishing equipment and was nearly wrecked on the Wolf Rock in the English Channel, a Marine Accident Investigation Branch report has concluded.

This is an interesting story for several reasons. CO2 was released into the cargo holds and engine room during the working day. This turned out to be a difficult emergency that does not fit into common emergency drill scenarios. Another interesting thing was the root cause was that procedures used were unclear.

One lesson learned is this: If unclear procedures are discovered during routine maintainance they should be corrected.

K.C.