Codan Marine

Main engine damage

Toolbox of Knowledge: Lesson Learned 9

Course of events
A main engine of 8000 KW // 142 rpm with approx. 80.000
running hours.The vessel had passed a special survey the year
before and was taken over by the new owners a few months
before the main engine was damaged.
The vessel was trading world wide and an ingress of water to the
main engine lube oil was discovered shortly before arrival in a port.
Upon arrival the main engine crank case was inspected without
any visible signs of leakage and the lub.oil was changed.
A few hours after leaving the port there was a pressure drop in
the main engines lub.oil system.This was adjusted by setting the
by-pass valve and the pressure difference at the lub oil filter was
equalised by back flushing.
A new pressure drop in the lub.oil system was encountered after
another 30 min and the engine was stopped and filters were
inspected and cleaned.The magnet plugs in the filters were found
with metal dust.The engine was restarted and it was decided
to return to port with reduced power for further investigation.
During this return trip some pressure drops were encountered
and the filters were cleaned with back flush every 30 minutes in
attemts to control the pressure.
Extent of damage
The engine crank shaft had sustained severe damage to bearing
journals. Pistons and cylinder liners were also damaged. The main
engine had to be dismantled and various parts to be renewed.
The work took abt. 120 days, which also included some of the
owners maintenance work.
Causal connections
The subsequent investigation revealed that the water ingress came
from the piston cooling system. Further on the single lube. oil

separator was working with reduced capacity.The significant water

content in the lub.oil probably caused the pressure drop and poor
lubrication of the engine which caused the damages to the bearing
journals and cylinders.
Despite several pressure drops etc. during the return trip, the
vessel continued to keep the main engine running instead of
requiring a tug boat for assistance.
Lessons to be learned
There are two sides of every casualty, loss prevention and loss
mitigation. On the loss prevention side the causal connections
water in main engine represent the immediate cause behind the
damages.
The lack of regular inspection/maintenance, which is a part of a
normal Programmed Maintenance Scheme (PMS) contributed
to the break down. If a PMS had been implemented, appropriate
actions most likely would have been initiated in order to rectify the
faults at an earlier state.
On the loss mitigation side there is the decision to continue to
operate the main engine, which resulted in an excessive load and
further damage.This load and ingress of water to the crank case
was more than the engine was capable to handle.This combined
with only partial lubrication of the cylinders resulted in the severe
damages to the main engine.
The immediate cause behind the water ingress to the M.E. lube oil
was a leaking piston cooling system.The reduced capacity of the
lube oil separator could not handle the leakage properly.
The basic cause behind the water ingress was the lack of
proper maintenance. A proper Planned Maintenance System is
recommended.

MAIN ENGINE DAMAGE

Toolbox of Knowledge: Lesson Learned 9

The first lesson to be learned is that active usage of a proper

Planned Maintenance System (PMS) is important to minimise
the likelihood of damage to any machinery parts.
The second lesson to be learned is that if alarms are
encountered they shouldnt be overridden unless it is a matter
of a critical emergency to proceed.
Finally it is important that the management continually evaluates
the operation and incoorporates adequate systems to promote
performance.

Loss of Propulsion
Damage to bearning journals.
Prevent

Detect

Design, construction Monitoring of

and maintenance.
operation values.
Water in the
M.E. lube oil and
frequent pressure
drops.

Control

Accidental
Event

Filter cleaning by
back flush. Reduced
power. Return to
port.

Detect

Control

The damaged journals

were detected when
the ship was back in
port.

Codan Marine covers the Nordic region with offices in Denmark, Finland, Norway
and Sweden. If you like to contact our marine insurance experts please call or
write to:
Denmark: +45 33 21 21 21
Denmarkuw@codanmarine.com

Norway: +47 55 55 08 00
Norway@codanmarine.com

Finland: +358 (0) 9 8868 5000

Finland@codanmarine.com

Sweden: +46 (0)75 243 24 90

Sweden@codanmarine.com

Web: www.codanmarine.com

Codan M700009 CVR 1052 9638

Mitigate