Page 17: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 2001)

Unauthorized Welding Caused

Carnival Ecstasy Fire

Unauthorized welding on laundry room equipment triggered a fire aboard the cruise ship Ecstasy off Miami in 1998, injuring 22 people and causing more than $17 million in damages, U.S. safety investigators concluded.

The National Transportation Safety

Board (NTSB) said that sparks from the welding equipment caused a fire that quickly spread and ignited a large accu- mulation of lint in the laundry room ventilation ducts. The fire migrated through that system to the aft mooring deck where it fed on dock lines, gener- ating such intense heat that it knocked out an electrical system that helped power the ship's engines.

Ecstasy, with 2,565 passengers and 916 crew, was left adrift several miles east of Miami before rescue crews put out the fire and towed the ship back to port. Sprinkler systems activated by heat and smoke prevented the fire from spreading to upper decks and other areas of the ship, the safety board found.

However, the board concluded that the lack of a fire suppression system on the mooring deck enabled the fire to rage.

Investigators largely praised the crew for its handling of the emergency, but noted shortfalls in procedures for dis- tributing life jackets and accounting for passengers during an emergency.

In its recommendations, the board said

Carnival should change its procedures to prevent any unauthorized welding or work that could cause a fire and revise information on safety procedures during emergencies. Crews working on the laundry equipment aboard the Ecstasy failed to obtain the necessary permit to do the work, investigators found.

The board also recommended that the company inspect, and, if necessary, modify electrical circuits to ensure that a single failure could not disable a ship's propulsion system. They also recom- mended that the cruise ship industry should ensure that fire suppression sys- tems were placed on the mooring decks if they carried equipment in that area of the ship that could burn, and suggested the ships should have emergency call systems in staterooms and crew cabins so people trapped during a fire could at least signal their location.

Litton Ingalls Lands $196.5M

Navy Contract

The U.S. Navy awarded Northrop

Grumman Corp.'s Litton Ingalls Ship- building an additional contract worth $196.5 million to its shipbuilding unit for work on an amphibious assault ship.

Litton will continue work towards the construction of an eighth WASP (LHD 1) Class large-deck, multipurpose, amphibious assault ship. The contract includes options for later exercise by the

Navy for building early ship assemblies and procuring additional material and equipment; options worth about $82 million. The contract modification will be followed by additional incremental awards as remaining options are exer- cised during the calendar year. Circle 248 on Reader Service Card

Product Modeling - Structure - Outfitting - Piping - Automatic Nesting | ShipConstructoir £ 3D Product Modeling in AutoCAD easy as 2D Drafting 1 Scales from a single user to a hundred users . .4 ... 7

Outfitting

NC-Processing

E-mail: [email protected]

Web: www.ShipConstructor.com

Tel: 1-250-479-3638

Toll free: 1-888-210-7420

Alhacore Research Ltd. Fax: 1-250-479-0868

Fairing - Lofting - Plate Expansion - Shell Expansion - NC

Circle 206 on Reader Service Card

You only have until February 1, 2002 to make sure all your mariners comply with STCW.

With Basic Safety Training through

Houston Marine Training Services'

Computer Based Training (CBT), your personnel can avoid the classroom and train more efficiently while retaining more information than ever before.

The CBT program is approved by the

U.S.C.G. and offers crew flexibility, cost savings, and student data management.

HOUSTON MARINE

TRAINING SERVICES 5728 Jefferson Highway • New Orleans, Louisiana 70123 • Fax: 504-729-4450 • www.houstonmarine.com

Circle 247 on Reader Service Card r CRANKSHAFT ^

GRINDING

While Installed in Engine

CRANKPIN AND MAIN

JOURNAL REFURBISHING

While crankshaft is in engine

ALL TYPES OF ON-BOARD

MACHINING Cylinder boring, engine top decks, horizontal joints, couplings, journals " ^WY^

IN-PUCE MACHINING COMPANY

USA: International: FAX: 800-833-3575 414-562-2000 414-265-1000 24 HOUR EMERGENCY SERVICE , day or night, 365 days a year email: [email protected] Website: www.inplace.com

LINE BORING OF MAIN

BEARING POCKETS

Laser and Optical

Alignment • METALSTITCH®

Repair of cracked or broken cast iron engine blocks

NUMBERED!

Call Today! 1-800-947-7737