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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 34 Number 4
December 2006
Flooding: How well are you prepared?
Flooding, foundering, and capsizing are the leading cause of the loss of fishing vessels and fishermen in the US. Just recently, a captain who participated in one of the New Bedford and Massachusetts Fishermen’s Partnership safety workshops notified our group of safety trainers that his vessel had experienced a serious flooding situation.
Corrective action was taken and the vessel and crew were saved. The captain and crew attributed this success to being prepared and having the insights learned during the flooding and damage control section of the safety training workshop.
This situation had a happy ending. Other fishermen have not been as fortunate. What about you? Are you prepared?
High-water alarms
Coast Guard regulations CFR 28.250 state that on a vessel 36' or more in length, a visual and audible alarm must be provided at the operations station to indicate a high-water level in each of the following normally unmanned spaces:
A space with a through-hull fitting below the deepest load waterline, such as the lazarette;
A machinery space bilge, bilge well, shaft alley bilge, or other space subject to flooding from sea water piping within the space; and
A space with closure that is not watertight, such as a space with a nonwatertight hatch on the main deck.
The standard locations for high-water alarms on larger vessels 48' or more are the lazarette, shaft alley, fish hold, and engine room.
An audible and visual high-water alarm monitor must be located by the helm. The specific compartments must be labeled on the monitor. The alarm monitors should be tested every day by pressing the small red button. However, all this acknowledges is that the alarm monitor is energized.
Float switches fail
The float switches in each compartment should be tested at the beginning, during, and end of every fishing trip to be certain that they are functioning properly.
During my monthly drills and inspections, the float switch is the one device that most often malfunctions. Even the Coast Guard voluntary shoreside examiners state that float switches are their most frequent corrective action on the vessels they examine.
Another problem I encounter is that when the alarms won’t stop beeping, fishermen get impatient and snip the wires, duct-tape over the alarm speaker, turn off the breaker, or remove the 9-volt batteries.
Instead, take the time to correct the problem. You won’t leave the dock if your radar, loran, GPS, or autopilot isn’t functioning. Give your high-water alarm system the same consideration.
Sea chest, seacock
The sea chest allows seawater to flow in from the bottom of the hull, usually to a wash-down pump for deck hoses or for cooling to a main engine or genset heat exchanger. Refrigerated seawater and freezing systems also utilize seawater through a sea chest.
A seacock is the valve at the sea chest that controls the flow of water from the sea chest. Most are quarter-turn ball valves and some are gate valves.
These seacocks should be labeled in the engine room, and all the crew should be made aware of where they are located and how they function.
Pumps
Bilge pumps or dewatering pumps can be belt-driven off a main engine, driven by hydraulics, or, most commonly, 110v-220v electric-motor driven.
Most bilge pumps work through a manifold system, with each pump plumbed with a valve to a specific compartment with an inline check valve and strainer at the suction end.
Some vessels have a single bilge pump plumbed specifically to the engine room with additional pumps for other compartments in the vessel.
An inherent problem that I encounter is poor or no labeling on the manifold or specific pump. Label these and make sure that all the crew knows how they function.
Portable pumps can come in very handy if the existing pumps can’t keep up with the ingress of water or your bilge pumps malfunction.
A portable pump could be as simple as a household sump pump with a garden hose for a discharge line or a gas- or diesel-powered dewatering pump. If you have a gas or diesel pump, it is best to start and run the pump once a month to make certain it’s functioning.
Remember to store the gas in a well-vented area.
Lastly, in an extreme flood emergency, the Coast Guard may lower you a P-6 or P-1 pump with the directions for operating it inside the canister.
In the New Bedford and Massachusetts Fishermen’s Partnership safety workshops, these pumps are available and everyone who participates will experience starting one, which could prove invaluable if you ever need to use one in a crisis.
Flood kits
I make up and give out to all the vessels I inspect and perform monthly drills on a flood kit. Every vessel should have one.
This kit should be stored where it is easily accessible and out of potential flood areas. All the crew should be made aware of the kit’s location and become familiar with how to use its contents.
The flood kit allows for a quick fix and minimizes the time it takes to chase down tools and materials scattered throughout the engine room.
Suggested flood kit contents are: hatchet; wood wedges; wood cone plugs for 1"-4" piping; hose clamps; duct tape; flashlight; screwdrivers; knife; wire ties; rags; oakum; bike inner tube strips; old foul weather gear cut into 16"x16" squares; waterproof epoxy; and dive gloves to protect hands from cold water.
Some of these items may be omitted or others added based on vessel design.
Make every effort to have the proper alarms and pumps, make sure the necessary equipment is all functioning, and familiarize your crew with these items and how to use them.
In upcoming articles, we’ll look at flooding damage control, communication, the free surface effect, and more.
Fred Mattera
NESTCo
A qualified Coast Guard-approved marine drill instructor, Fred Mattera is the owner/president of North East Safety Training Co. (NESTCo), which conducts fishing vessel drills and inspections and basic safety training workshops.
Mattera has been a commercial fisherman since 1972 and the owner of the Point Judith, RI-based 84' freezer trawler Travis & Natalie since 1984.
He also has been the president of the Point Club, a fishing vessel mutual insurance group, since 1998 and has served on the board of directors for Sunderland Marine Mutual Insurance Co., the principal underwriter for the Point Club and more than 2,000 US fishing vessels, since 1998.
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