The Marine Safety Forum gives us information on this lifeboat air bottle explosion:
A gas bottle exploded in a lifeboat of a vessel during the process of charging it up from the
Breathing Apparatus Air Compressor.The Master of the 8 years-old vessel was in proximity of the lifeboat and he was very seriously
wounded. The bottle was quite old with different numbers/dates.The photographs below speak for themselves. Unfortunately one person was injured – imagined
the results if this happened on the deck area with more people around.
Here is the full ALERT:
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6 responses so far ↓
1 Anonymous // May 8, 2008 at 9:33 am
What you really should imagine is if one of these things blew out when the life boat was in the water and full of people who had just abandoned ship.
Pay attention to the condition of all gas bottles, people. These things are at greatest risk of blowing during refilling but they can spontaneously explode if they’ve been damaged or are well past their design lives.
2 bristlecone // May 9, 2008 at 12:00 am
Look at the condition of the bottle. It’s oxidized..probably has not been visualled or hydroe’d in years.
Hydro every 5 years, visual every year.
3 Fred // May 9, 2008 at 3:03 am
Visually inspect once every two years? F that. Inspect it the first time you have a lifeboat drill after joining a ship, unless you are the one who inspected it for it’s two-year check. Officers are onboard for only a couple months and many never return to the same vessel, so it is easy to pass on problems to the releaving officer.
Enclosed boats are coffin feeders.
4 Kennebec Captain // May 9, 2008 at 9:18 pm
I wonder what is killed-injured / rescued-saved ratio for lifeboats is. For every person killed or injured, how many people saved?
5 John // May 9, 2008 at 9:36 pm
I asked a very similar question a few months back, Bob Couttie gave a good response:
http://gcaptain.com/s/58430/
6 Kennebec Captain // May 10, 2008 at 2:57 am
John - thanks, interesting reading - Bob Couttie says - “60 per cent of fatalities although just 16 per cent of accidents. ” - Our lifeboat has to be lowered about 27 meters to the sea - 90 feet.
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