Loss of lives due to fire in the engine room

1. Incident Summary

On 13 Feb 2021, a fire incident in the engine room of an offshore support vessel (OSV) resulted in the loss of four crew members while delivering cargo to a platform at Mumbai High.

• Cause: Leakage of diesel oil (DO) from a tank valve onto the main engine exhaust manifold
• Consequence: Massive fire in the engine room within a short span of time

2. Causal Factors and Lessons Learned

• Inadequate risk assessment - No understanding of the potential consequences if diesel oil leaked onto the exhaust manifold
• High-risk job left unattended - Chief Engineer (CE) left the site without additional controls in place
• Inadequate communication - High-risk job performed in the engine room while the vessel was in operation at dynamic positioning (DP) mode without informing the bridge/master
• Lessons Learned: Complete risk assessment before performing tasks, intimate bridge/master about tasks in the engine room, and do not leave tasks unattended until adequate control measures are identified and put in place