15 LMM V I S I O N ISSUE 22 | Q3 2025 Incident Description During routine operation, the emergency fire pump was found out of working order. The mechanical seal of the emergency fire pump was totally destroyed during morning hours during normal operation and while vessel was waiting for pilotage. Seawater leak occurred due to muddy water at vessel’s location. The water level rose up rapidly, resulting in the electric motor becoming submerged. Crew immediately stopped the pump and commenced drainage of the flooded space. At same time, started the General Service Pump #1 to ensure that there is a backup measure in place for firefighting means in case required. Crew replated the mechanical seal but had to wait for the drying of the motor. A few hours earlier on same day, the emergency fire pump was tested by the responsible crew and found in good working order. Incident had been reported to Company, in line with Company’s Procedures, while same was brought to the attention of Classification Society who verified the proper operational condition of Emergency Fire Pump. Potential Outcomes ●● Personnel Injury or Casualty ●● Fire / Explosion ●● Property Damage (Excessive) ●● Not being possible to repair the Emergency Fire Pump ●● Not being able to respond to an emergency fire Root Causes I. Substandard Actions ●● Failure to secure (apparent water leakage) ●● Failure to warn (no alarm / warning / indication prior incident) II. Substandard Conditions ●● Defective materials/Failure (mechanical seal failure) ●● Hazardous environmental conditions (flooded emergency fire pump pit) ●● Prevailing muddy water conditions (other) IΙΙ. Job Factor ●● Excessive wear & tear Corrective / Preventive Actions ●● Circulation of investigation report, along with deriving Lessons Learnt, among fleet vessels with the aim to increase awareness to all involved personnel focusing on identified root causes and analyzing the established corrective and preventive actions through a team-engaged and open-ended questions discussion on board. ●● Inclusion of investigation report, in the agenda of next Lessons learned Environmental conditions (muddy or silty waters) can critically affect mechanical components which may result into water leakages into Engine Room. Emergency Fire Pump mechanical seal failure in-house training seminar that will be conducted at Company’s premises with the participation of all available crew members. Emphasis to be given on the importance of keeping the ROB of critical spares in line with minimum ones required by Company and being alert for any abnormal situation in emergency fire pump. ●● Evaluation of the development of an onboard motor interchangeability chart for fleet vessels. Objective is to map onboard serviceable motors to potential applications in case of unforeseen failures, enabling immediate and practical substitution. Upon development, such will be presented to Top Management for further assessment and integration, as applicable, into Company’s Management System. Team Engagement & discussion topics ●● Describe the machinery / equipment on board connected with vessel’s sea chests ●● What can cause seawater leakage into Engine Room? ●● What can cause mechanical seal of emergency fire pump to fail? INCIDENT REPORT
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