Flooding in engine room on passenger cruise ship Queen Elizabeth 2
Location: Mid Atlantic.
Accident Investigation Report 9/2003
Read our marine accident investigation report, which includes what happened, actions taken and subsequent recommendations:
(385.99 kb)
Summary
At 1700 BST on 18 May 2002, the large passenger cruise ship Queen Elizabeth 2, left Southampton for a trans-Atlantic passage to New York. She had 1457 passengers and 973 crew on board. At approximately 0200 UTC on 21 May, the senior watchkeeping engineer discovered a large sea water leak in the aft engine room. This was found to be caused by the perforation of a 250mm diameter sea water inlet pipe serving an evaporator used for producing fresh water. Because the position of failure was between the isolating valve and the vessel’s skin, the ingress of sea water could not be stopped by closing this valve. After several efforts at effecting emergency repairs, the ingress of sea water was stopped using an ingenious arrangement of a flexible bladder, inserted into the failed pipe and then filled with compressed air. This allowed the vessel to reach New York safely, where permanent repairs were made.
Safety Issues
- the pipe’s failure was found to have been caused by simple sea water corrosion
- the degree of corrosion was difficult to assess because of the presence of a welded flange
Recommendations
Recommendations have been addressed to MCA, Cunard and Lloyd’s Register of Shipping which, if implemented, should help to prevent a similar accident in the future.
This report was published in March 2003.