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AUS-EC1-L4.1

Major machinery casualty

There is one principle underneath all of it. **People, then ship, then plant.** An engineer who risks a life to save an engine has failed at the only part of the job that cannot be repaired.

Entry & progression

The examiner will put you here, and so will the sea. What follows is the management-level competence: not just the actions, but the sequence, the communication and the decisions that follow.

Blackout at sea

The emergency generator starts on loss of main power and feeds the emergency switchboard: emergency lighting, steering, communications, essential navigation. Your task is to restore main power in a controlled sequence - start and close a generator, restore essential services first, bring the propulsion auxiliaries back, then reload gradually. Reloading everything at once is how the second blackout happens.

The context is what makes a blackout dangerous, not the blackout. Off a lee shore, in traffic, in a channel, or while manoeuvring, you have minutes. Tell the bridge immediately - before you diagnose anything - because the master's options shrink with every one of those minutes and he needs to know how long you think you need.

Loss of propulsion

Loss of main propulsion

  1. Tell the bridge at once. What you have lost, what you still have - steering, thrusters, one shaft - and a time estimate you can defend.
  2. Secure the plant safely. Stop what must be stopped; keep running what must keep running.
  3. Update the estimate honestly. An optimistic estimate that slips is worse than a pessimistic one that holds.
  4. Support the bridge's decisions. Not-under-command signals, anchoring, tug assistance - the master's calls, made on your information.
  5. Log everything, with times. It will be read later.

Engine room fire

The sequence is unforgiving and you must be able to recite it: raise the alarm; evacuate the space and muster - account for every person; stop the fuel, close the quick-closing valves, trip the pumps and purifiers; stop the ventilation and close the flaps, dampers and skylights; boundary-cool the surrounding structure; confirm the muster again; and then, and only then, release the fixed extinguishing system on the master's authority. After release, nobody goes back in until the space has been properly cooled and tested. Re-entry into a hot smothered space has killed people who had already put the fire out.

WARNING — Crankcase explosion: do not open it An oil mist alarm means a hot spot is vaporising lube oil. Slow down, stop the engine, keep clear of the crankcase doors and relief valves, and wait - the manufacturer's stated cooling period, commonly around 30 minutes - before opening anything. Opening the crankcase of a hot engine admits the air that turns a primary explosion into a secondary one.

CAUTION — Casualty reporting is not improvised After a serious casualty there are reporting obligations - to the company, to class, to the flag administration and to the coastal state. What they are, and when they bite, depends on the vessel and the incident. Confirm the requirements with AMSA, flag and class in advance and have them written into the SMS. Do not work them out on the night.

Whatever happens: preserve the evidence. Do not strip the failed component before it has been photographed and recorded. Keep the alarm printouts and the data logs. Write the times down while you still remember them. An investigation is coming, and the honest, contemporaneous record is the department's best friend.

Practice questions

5 questions
recallcore

recall · core

The correct order of priorities in any machinery casualty is: (a) Plant, then ship, then people (b) Ship, then plant, then people (c) People, then ship, then plant (d) Whichever the master directs

recallcore

recall · core

On an oil mist detector alarm, the correct action is to: (a) Open the crankcase doors immediately to find the hot spot (b) Increase load to burn off the mist (c) Acknowledge the alarm and continue at reduced load (d) Slow down and stop the engine, keep clear of the crankcase doors and relief valves, and wait the manufacturer's stated cooling period before opening anything

recallcore

recall · core

Before releasing a fixed fire extinguishing system into the machinery space, the single most important confirmation is that: (a) Every person is accounted for and the space is evacuated (b) The main engine has been stopped (c) The boundary has been cooled (d) The company has been informed

recallcore

recall · core

On a total loss of propulsion, the chief's first action is to: (a) Begin fault diagnosis before disturbing the bridge (b) Inform the bridge at once - what is lost, what remains, and a defensible time estimate (c) Start the emergency generator (d) Notify the classification society

recallcore

recall · core

After a serious machinery casualty, the failed component should be: (a) Stripped and rebuilt as quickly as possible to restore service (b) Disposed of ashore at the next port (c) Preserved, photographed and recorded before any stripping, along with alarm printouts and data logs (d) Returned to the manufacturer without record

AI-drafted catalogue content pending SME review. Sea service and course requirements change; verify with AMSA before relying on this for a career decision.

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