Casualty Information

Information from DNV to the maritime industry No. 2 April 2009

Corrosion in double bottom in engine room serious leakage

Ship type: Bulk carrier Size (GT): Any Year built: 2005
The hole was temporarily tightened using 10 mm thick round steel plate of 200 mm diameter with rubber gasket, and properly secured. Extent of damage An area of approximately 0.50 m2 was found severely corroded and was to be repaired by an insert plate. >> Course of events Water ingress to the engine room was discovered during a voyage. The leakage was found to come through the short sounding pipe of the bilge water holding tank in the double bottom. After the visual inspection of the tank, the sea water ingress was found to come through an approximately 45 mm diameter area of serious pitting/hole in bottom plate. See Fig.1.

Fig. 1. Location of corroded area bilge water tank and hole in the bottom plate.

Casualty Information No. 2 April 2009

Probable cause The probable cause of the corrosion was that waste chemicals had accumulated at the bottom of the bilge water tank, and had not been possible to drain properly during normal operation, see Fig. 2. During investigation by the crew it was found that the very corrosive chemical, hydrochloric acid had been used for de-scaling of the fresh water generator and then later drained into the bilge water holding tank. It was also found that the sounding pipe cover had been removed from the pipe for easy sounding! Lessons to be learned I Be careful in use of corrosive chemicals in general.

Waste chemicals should in general be stored in separate containers of plastic or glass, or in other spaces adequately protected against attack from the chemicals. Regular draining and inspection of tanks containing bilge water should be provided. Such tanks should be included in the maintenance programme on board. Put the sounding pipe cover back in place after sounding!

Note: This damage could have caused flooding of the engine room and hampered the safety of the ship if not discovered in time.

Fig. 2: Transverse section of lower part of engine room.

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Casualty Information is published by DNV Maritime, Maritime Services, department for Classification Support. Det Norske Veritas NO-1322 Hvik, Norway Tel: +47 67 57 99 00 Fax: +47 67 57 99 11 The purpose of Casualty Information is to provide the maritime industry with lessons to be learned from incidents of ship damage and more serious accidents. In this way, Det Norske Veritas AS hopes to contribute to the prevention of similar occurrences in the future. The information included is not necessarily restricted to cover ships classed with DNV and is presented, without obligation, for information purposes only. Queries may be directed to Det Norske Veritas, Maritime Services, Classification Support, 1322 Hvik, Norway. Fax: +47 67 57 99 11, e-mail: experience.feedback@dnv.com Det Norske Veritas AS. This publication may be reproduced freely on condition that Det Norske Veritas AS (DNV) is always stated as the source. DNV accepts no responsibility for any errors or misinterpretations.

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