NTSB issues safety recommendations after engine room fire on Roger Blough
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board issued three safety recommendations Thursday following an investigation into last year’s engine room fire aboard the Great Lakes bulk carrier Roger Blough during winter layup.
The Roger Blough was docked at the Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding facility on Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin when a fire started in the engine room on February 1, 2021. The cargo-unloading conveyor belts then ignited, causing extensive damage throughout the aft section of the vessel. The shipkeeper on board departed the vessel without injury. No pollution was reported.
The incident was extremely costly with damages to the Roger Blough exceeding $100 million.
NTSB investigators determined the fire originated at the burner for the diesel oil-fired furnace, which had been installed in the engine room to heat the space during the winter. The burner assembly was mounted onto the furnace’s air tube with an aluminum coupling. Investigators determined the coupling broke, allowing the burner to drop and fracture the fuel line supplying it.
According to the NTSB, about a month before the fire, the chief engineer believed the furnace was not working and thought the ignitor was not properly set. The vessel’s two engineers removed and reinstalled the furnace’s burner several times in their attempts to repair the furnace, which were unsuccessful. They contacted the furnace company’s technical representative who repaired the furnace. NTSB investigators concluded the repeated removal and reinstallation of the burner assembly during attempts to repair the furnace may have damaged the mounting coupling and led to its eventual failure.
When the fire erupted at night, the wireless monitoring and notification system, which was installed for winter layup, activated the alarm panel in the crew’s accommodation spaces and then notified the designated contacts. The shipkeeper was the only person on board but was not listed among the contacts. The shipkeeper was not awakened until 7 minutes later when the smoke detector inside his stateroom sounded as thick black smoke filled the room. According to the report, had the shipkeeper on board been listed among the designated contacts to receive system alerts, he likely would have been awakened earlier and may have had an opportunity to extinguish the fire before it spread through the vessel.
NTSB determined that the probable cause of the engine room fire was likely the repeated removal and reinstallation of the furnace’s burner that led to the failure of its mounting coupling, resulting in the operating burner dropping to the bottom of its enclosure and fracturing the fuel supply line, which allowed diesel fuel to ignite. Contributing to the fire was the absence of a fire-activated automatic fuel oil shutoff valve on the fuel oil inlet piping before the burner, which would have stopped the fuel feeding the fire shortly after it started and limited the spread of the fire.
As a result of the investigation, the NTSB issued one recommendation each to the U.S. Coast Guard, the American Bureau of Shipping, and Key Lakes Inc.
NTSB recommended that the U.S. Coast Guard require that furnace installations on vessels be inspected to comply with National Fire Protection Association recommendations and to develop standards requiring installation of other types of shutdown mechanisms or safety alarms. A similar recommendation was issued to the American Bureau of Shipping, which conducts oversight examinations for vessels like the Roger Blough. NTSB’s recommendation to the vessel owner, Key Lakes Inc. was to ensure that their designated contacts list includes each shipkeeper living and working on a vessel during layup.
“There are no regulations regarding winter layup procedures for commercial vessels operating in the Great Lakes,” the report said. “The lack of regulations or classification standards related to diesel oil-fired air heating furnace construction, installation, safety shutdowns, and system alarms poses a risk to life and property if the equipment is not installed and maintained to standards similar to those in place for other oil-fired equipment.”
The report added: “The National Fire Protection Association recommends that burner assemblies like the type installed on the Roger Blough have a fire-activated quick-closing valve on the inlet fuel oil piping next to the burner. When installed, this type of valve has a thermally activated mechanism that shuts the valve in the presence of fire to stop further flow of fuel to the burner. Had the burner assembly on the Roger Blough been fitted with a fire-activated quick-closing valve on its inlet fuel oil piping, the fuel feeding the furnace fire would have been stopped and thus the fire likely would not have spread so rapidly.”
Safety issues identified by the NTSB included:
– Lack of regulations governing furnace installation and operations on board certain vessels,
– Inadequate notification to onboard personnel of a fire, and
– Lack of fire-activated valve on the fuel oil piping to the burner on the furnace in the engine room.
Marine Investigation Report 22/19 can be found here.
The public docket for the investigation containing factual information, including interview transcripts, photographs and other investigative materials is here.
gCaptain
Meet the Mark W. Barker, a new 639-foot ship hauling cargo on the Great Lakes
CLEVELAND, OH – A new freighter is sailing the Great Lakes and carrying cargo in and out of the Cuyahoga River.
The Mark W. Barker, a 639-foot bulk carrier, is the 10th ship in the Interlake Steamship Co.’s fleet, a Great Lakes carrier headquartered in Middleburg Heights. It’s the company’s first newly built ship since 1981.
The MWB arrived in Cleveland this week after embarking from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, where it was built by Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding. It’s already made eight deliveries.
Interlake’s President Mark Barker, the namesake of the ship, said the company first started discussing the new ship seven years ago. Construction started in 2019 and finished this summer. He declined to say how much the ship cost.
It’s a versatile member of the company’s fleet, made specifically for the tight turns of the Cuyahoga River, and to load salt coming out of Cargill’s mine on the south side of Whiskey Island.
On a tour Wednesday, crew members pointed out all the features and technology this ship has, representing a major change, since the company’s next newest ship on its Interlake fleet is 41 years old. The unloading process is automated and computerized; crew members don’t need to pull levers and open gates in
the cargo hold. The bridge of the ship has seven chart stations with monitors for the pilot and first mate to use. Other ships have three.
“This is night and day,” said Vince Hagman, a member of the 24-person crew.
The MWB has specialized steering equipment to help make sharp turns. While it’s in the river, Hangman said the ship stays at least 24 feet from the riverbank.
Barker said the ship had to be built shorter so it could navigate a narrow part of the river without comprising too much space. To accomplish this, the ship has a square and flat cargo hold, rather than an angled one, front loaders
and extra-large hatches to help it carry 26,000 tons of cargo. “While it’s our shortest vessel, it’s not our smallest carrying capacity vessel,” Barker said.
The ship will carry salt from Cleveland across the Great Lakes and bring iron ore back, along with other raw materials like stone and aggregate. It can also move finished steel products, project cargo or even containers, if needed. “It has a broad versatility to it,” Barker said, “We designed it for what will come. The question is what will come. We don’t know yet.”
The ship isn’t short on Cleveland connections. Not only is it hauling salt from Cargill. Iron ore from Cleveland Cliff’s mine in Minnesota and steel from Cliff’s plant in Indiana were used to build the ship. Sherwin-Williams maritime coatings were used to paint the new ship.
Given its size, everything about the ship is big and different. The two, 16-cylinder engines put out 8,000 horsepower. It takes 120,000 gallons of diesel to fill its tanks, and it burns 5,000 gallons on an average day.
Loading the ship with 22,000 tons of salt can take 12 to 15 hours, and getting it Superior, Wisconsin, will take two-and-a-half days.
Feeding the crew costs between $2,000 and $3,000 a week, although the boat’s chef, Matt Dillinger, said prices have been fluctuating like most everyone else’s grocery bills.
It’s one of three ships Interlake takes in and out of the Cuyahoga River, the others being the Herbert C. Jackson and Dorothy Ann, both built in the 1950s.
The new ship comes as shipping, even on the Great Lakes, is getting more attention because of supply-chain hiccups. Barker said logistic professionals have looked at waterways as a reliable source of transportation that’s also
more environmentally friendly. “What you’re seeing is a shift back to water,” Barker said. Barker and others say the Great Lakes are underutilized, and hopes time will change that.
Lake Carriers’ Association President James Weakley said the MWB is a sign of Interlake is confident in the industry. “You wouldn’t build a ship like this if you didn’t believe in the future of the industry,” Weakley said.
cleveland.com
Marinette Marine to begin building first Constellation frigate
A Fincantieri shipyard in Wisconsin will begin constructing its first Constellation-class frigate Wednesday following a small ceremony, U.S. Navy officials announced.
The kickoff of ship construction at Marinette Marine Shipyard follows an April 2020 contract award for the ship program and a subsequent 28 months of design maturation work — turning the Italian company’s design for a European FREMM frigate into a U.S. Navy derivative.
Read the full article here: https://www.navytimes.com/naval/2022/08/31/marinette-marine-to-begin-building-first-constellation-frigate/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=fb_navytimes&fbclid=IwAR0ec2KRWEMVK-Bn3nOtiJTxHy1mHxDImW-4G4pa2Z6EBmy6JNtNuM5sijA
NavyTimes
Reserve now for MHSD’s Detroit River cruise on September 10
Join other members of the MHSD aboard the passenger vessel Diamond Queen, (captained by MHSD’s very own Mike Nicholls and with MHSD member Ken Borg as narrator) for a Detroit River cruise 1-4 p.m. Saturday, September 10. We will do our best to get up close to freighter traffic and, if conditions are favorable, go up the Rouge River (however, the Rouge is not guaranteed). Snacks and refreshments will be available on the boat.
Tickets are $28 ($30 at the dock if space is still available). Buy tickets online at BrownPaperTickets.com (put Marine Historical Society in the search box to find our event).
By mail, send a check, payable to the Marine Historical Society of Detroit, to MHSD Cruise, 1020 Iroquois St., Detroit, MI 48214. Late orders will not be mailed – they will be held for you at the dock. We are limiting the number to 100 passengers so there will be plenty of room to move about the boat.
MHSD
*Robert Campbell photo
