kiwijohn Posted February 9, 2017 #1 Share Posted February 9, 2017 It has just been reported that a crew member has died when a a gas bottle exploded on board Emerald Princess at 5pm tonight in Port Chalmers. A Carnival spokesperson said the "person killed was doing work on the hydraulic launch system of tender vessels". The ship has been delayed while investigations are carried out. How safe are gas bottles on board HAL ships??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chengkp75 Posted February 9, 2017 #2 Share Posted February 9, 2017 It has just been reported that a crew member has died when a a gas bottle exploded on board Emerald Princess at 5pm tonight in Port Chalmers. A Carnival spokesperson said the "person killed was doing work on the hydraulic launch system of tender vessels". The ship has been delayed while investigations are carried out. How safe are gas bottles on board HAL ships??? Would need some more information to really understand what happened. Compressed gas cylinders are supplied to the ship by shore vendors, and must meet UN, IMO, and local regulations regarding inspection intervals, and all gas cylinders require a 10 year hydrostatic pressure test. To me, it sounds like the crew was working on or charging the accumulator cylinder on the lifeboat davit (this cylinder uses nitrogen gas to provide a reserve of pressurized oil to operate the davit if all power fails. Whether the charging device or hose between the nitrogen supply cylinder and the accumulator blew out and killed him or whether the accumulator blew up (extremely rare), I don't know, but the accumulators are inspected quarterly by the crew, annually by the class surveyor, and the 10 year hydro test. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chengkp75 Posted February 9, 2017 #3 Share Posted February 9, 2017 Olay, I looked at the threads and photos on the Princess board, and it was a portable nitrogen cylinder. From the photos, it is mainly intact, on the pier, which leads me to believe what happened is the most common accident with compressed gas cylinders: either it was knocked over or dropped and damaged the valve in the top of the cylinder, and the cylinder takes off like a rocket as the gas escapes from the cracked valve. The cylinder most likely struck the crew member, killing him, and the loud sound people reported was the cylinder crashing into the parts of the ship before it flew out and landed on the dock. This type of accident can happen to any cylinder, whether it has just been inspected or whether it is several years old. This is less about cylinder safety than proper work practices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krazy Kruizers Posted February 9, 2017 #4 Share Posted February 9, 2017 Thank you for the information. I will have to go over to the Princess board and see the pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted February 9, 2017 #5 Share Posted February 9, 2017 Sorry to hear this kiwijohn. Thanks for letting us know. Prayers for the crew member and their family and friends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ger_77 Posted February 9, 2017 #6 Share Posted February 9, 2017 How awful - so sad for the crew member's family and friends. Smooth Sailing! :) :) :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhannah Posted February 9, 2017 #7 Share Posted February 9, 2017 Very sad. Prayers for the deceased's family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Copper10-8 Posted February 9, 2017 #8 Share Posted February 9, 2017 Very sad event! Thoughts and prayers are with the crew member's family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
summer slope Posted February 9, 2017 #9 Share Posted February 9, 2017 Very sad. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easyboy Posted February 10, 2017 #10 Share Posted February 10, 2017 Prayers for the family of the deceased crew. Thanks chengkp75 for explaining how it could have possibly happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare erewhon Posted February 11, 2017 #11 Share Posted February 11, 2017 The Emerald left Port Chalmers 9.08 pm last night(Friday) after the investigators were finished on board. We watched her passing Taiaroa Head on the albatross webcam. The bird turned it's head to watch the well lit ship pass by. Police are investigating the accident on behalf of the coroner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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