CMA CGM SHANGHAI

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Report: improperly-installed compression fitting and uninsulated exhaust system insulation caused fire

The National Transport Shipping Board has determined that a loose pipe fitting caused the engine room fire and blackout aboard the 'President Eisenhower' off California on April 27, 2021. The second engineer had installed a new section of steel tubing for the fuel oil return for the main engine, replacing a section that had developed a pinhole leak on April 26. The next day, at 7 p.m. the vessel departed the Port of Los Angeles for Oakland via the Santa Barbara Channel. After ramping up the engine load program for the transit, the first and second engineers completed a walkaround. All looked good, and at 12.53 a.m. they left the engine room for the night. At 01.54 a.m. an AB on the bridge wing noticed smoke coming from an engine room hatch. At about the same time, a fire alarm activated for the engine room. Looking at the CCTV monitor for the space, the captain and third mate confirmed that there was an active engine room fire in progress. The crew followed procedure, shutting down ventilation systems, closing fuel supply valves, switching to the emergency generator, and suiting up firefighting teams. As a first attempt, the crew sent in an attack team with a hose to try and quell the fire, but they quickly determined that it was"too much to fight and retreated. The captain ordered all ventilation hatches to the space closed and the fixed firefighting CO2 system activated. This was completed at about 02.23 a.m. After flooding the space with CO2, they allowed the fire-affected areas to cool throughout the morning to ensure that there would be no reflash. The fire left the vessel without propulsion, and as the day progressed, the 'President Eisenhower' drifted closer to shore. A tug arrived on scene at about 2 p.m. and helped move the stricken ship further out into the channel; at her closest approach to land, she was about 3.5 miles from shore. A marine firefighting team came aboard and helped the crew verify that the blaze was fully extinguished, and the ship was towed back to the Port of Los Angeles for repairs. In a post-casualty examination, investigators found that a compression fitting on the end of the tubing had come fully disconnected, resulting in a spray of diesel fuel. Footage from the vessel's camera system showed that the diesel spray began fully 30 minutes before the fire started. The diesel hit an uninsulated exhaust system component, sparking a blaze. The NTSB concluded that the improperly-installed compression fitting and the uninsulated exhaust system component were the probable causes of the fire. It added that the fitting's failure might not have resulted in a fire if the vessel had had a rapid oil leak detection system, which could have spotted the fuel spray and sounded an alarm before it ignited. Report with photo: https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/improperly-installed-fuel-line-caused-engine-room-fire-on-apl-boxship

Engine fire disabled container ship

On April 28, 2021 at 3 a.m., a fire broke out in the engine room of the 'President Eisenhower' short after leaving the port of Los Angeles enroute to Oakland. The vessel was disabled and went adrift about 24 nautical miles off the Gaviota Coast. The US Coast Guard deployed a helicopter, a small boat and the cutter 'Blacktip' from Ventura to assist the crew in putting out the fire. No one was injured. The ship was drifting in a northerly direction, away from the Channel Islands and their surrounding marine sanctuary. The tug 'Ryan I' (MMSI: 367104050) was called to assist. On April 29 the tugs 'Delta Billie' (IMO: 9562207), 'Elizabeth C' (IMO: 7517478 ), 'Shirley C' (IMO: 7114288) and 'Teresa Brusco' (MMSI: 368019930) were pulling the casualty towards Santa Barbara with a speed of less thant three knots.

Cargo ship rescued single hand sailor

The Coast Guard Seventeenth District command center personnel coordinated efforts with the 'President Eisenhower' to rescue a 67-year-old man from his disabled and adrift 38-foot sailing vessel 'Miss Lilly', located roughly 500 nautical miles south-southwest of Dutch Harbor, Alaska, on June 4, 2020. At approximately 9:00 a.m. the Coast Guard District 17 command center watchstanders received a distress alert from the sailing vessel in which the man aboard reported his vessel to be disabled and adrift, and he was in need of Coast Guard assistance. The distress alert was communicated from the man’s 406Mhz Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) to a search and rescue satellite that relayed the message to the U.S. Coast Guard.Due to the long distance to the position, command center personnel requested assistance from nearby commercial vessels using the Automated Mutual Assistance Vessel Rescue (AMVER) system. The Coast Guard issued an urgent marine information broadcast across a 100 nautical mile radius from the distress position to request local assistance for the stranded man using an Enhanced Group Call (EGC) over a satellite e-mail system known as Inmarsat C. The command center personnel diverted the 378-foot Coast Guard Cutter 'Mellon' and launched a Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak C-130J Hercules aircraft to assist with the search and provide a communications platform during the search. The crew of the'President Eisenhower', enroute from Oakland to Yokohama, responded and diverted 30 nautical miles to assist the sailing vessel . She arrived on-scene and established verbal communications with the man who wanted to abandon his vessel and come on board due to his vessel no longer being safe or seaworthy. The crew of the 'President Eisenhower' launched one of their small boats, retrieved the distressed sailor and brought him aboard. On-scene weather was 10 miles visibility, calm winds and 2-foot seas. Report with photo: https://coastguardnews.com/coast-guard-president-eisenhower-rescue-mariner-500-miles-offshore/2020/06/05/