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Martha, Who Cleaned the Lint Filter??

Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 4:08 am
by JK
Since the Monitor is just killing my Internet by freezing my computer up, I thought I would post this accident report here.
It will make your eyes roll with the litany of professional sloppiness ( and I am being generous here) found during the subsequent investigation to the fire and later sinking of the large yacht "Lady Candida"
It will certainly make you look at charter yachts with a closer eye!!

http://www.maib.gov.uk/cms_resources/Lady_Candida.pdf
SYNOPSIS
On 28 July 2007, Lady Candida was cruising 3 miles off the south west coast of Corsica. On board were a crew of 6 and 11 passengers, 4 of whom were young children. At about 1630, a fire was detected in the yacht’s laundry. Despite efforts to extinguish the fire using portable extinguishers, it quickly spread out of control and the passengers and two of the crew were evacuated to the shore in the vessel’s open tender. At 1640 the captain broadcast a “Mayday” and soon afterwards he and the remaining crew abandoned the vessel into a liferaft. They were soon recovered by a nearby vessel. The fire was later extinguished by shore-based rescue boats, but Lady Candida sank when being towed clear of the Bonifacio nature reserve. There were no casualties. The investigation identified that:
• The fire was almost certainly caused by the ignition of accumulated lint in the air outlet of a tumble dryer.
• The fire detection system did not function correctly.
• The growth of the fire was assisted by the airflow over the deck.
• No water was applied to the fire because the fixed fire pump could not be started and the emergency fire pump was difficult to access.
• There was no regular testing of the fire alarms or the emergency fire pump, and no fire drills were carried out on board.
• No engineer was carried and the captain had not completed mandatory fire-fighting training.
• The captain was probably fatigued.
• There were many departures from the requirements of the Code of Practice for the Safety of Large Commercial Sailing and Motor Vessels (LY1).
• The management of the vessel was left almost entirely to the captain and no safety management system was in place.
• The yacht foundered as a result of the large amount of water that accumulated in her hull during the fire-fighting effort.
To try to prevent a similar accident in the future, Safehaven International Ltd has introduced measures to provide shore-based support for all its clients’ vessels and to monitor compliance with applicable codes and regulation. Additionally, the MAIB has circulated a synopsis of this accident, including the lessons learned, to the large yacht industry and media. Recommendations have been made to the MCA with the aim of ensuring that key safety equipment such as fire detection systems are properly maintained and operated, and the effectiveness of its survey regime is improved.

Ahhh the ol' lint trap

Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 7:26 am
by The Dieselduck
Its not the first time this lint trap has caused problems. Seems to be a nagging issue for many, judging by the many notices next to the dryer on just about every boat I have ever worked on. What is so scary about cleaning that?

The spotlight has really begun to shine brightly in the dark corners of the large yacht industry. I think its good that the UK's MCA recognized the need to regulate the ever growing vessels, I guess its been about 4-5 years since they started to. I expect we will see these types of reports with more consistency as the industry comes inline with the rest of the commercial world.

I believe there is a considerable amount of bullshit in the industry, so there is certainly a very real need to set ground rules to cut it. Its getting crucial to have people who are more than "experienced as captain of 32 foot yacht" to navigate the 250 foot ships they have now. Same goes with the engineering side. I know most yachts are just meant to be a show piece at the marina, but still, when you start having COGES plants and 30 mW power plants, its probably time to make sure that someone knows how to shut them down in case of emergency.

By the way, here is a picture of the Lady Candida http://yachts.monacoeye.com/yachtsbysiz ... ida01.html

Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 3:38 pm
by JK
Its getting crucial to have people who are more than "experienced as captain of 32 foot yacht" to navigate the 250 foot ships they have now
Paul Watson immediately comes to mind :roll:
It is amazing the ships that sail out of harbour as yachts; if they were still under TC they would have a full set of surveys due on their SIRs. And as yachts, the manning requirements are zilch.

Been there.

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 10:10 am
by Dieseldame
Comments are right on, I'm surprised there aren't more accidents. I was once hired as an engineer then asked to make beds...needless to say greasy fingers on white sheets did not go well!

DD