Flooding in Ship's Machinery Spaces

The shore based power plants do not face the threat of

flooding with water. But How about the ship's Engine
Room? Flooding of Engine Room may even lead to
sinking of the whole Ship. Know about the Engine Room
flooding, its causes & course of action to be taken.

Why is the marine engine room susceptible to

flooding?
We all know that a ship floats on water, totally surrounded
by the sea on all sides. The entire engine room, especially
the bottom the bottom most platform, will usually be under
the surface of the water. In case of a ULCC or VLCC ship,
the bottom platform is almost 10 to 15 metres below
the water line. We all are aware of the complex piping
systems and the hazardous and risky conditions inside the
engine room. And out of all pipelines, the main sea water
line covers almost all parts of the engine room. This pipe
is a huge diameter pipe running forward and aft of the
ship. In addition to this, the engine room is totally
restricted from open atmosphere, such that no water can
go out except the normally designed piping system. It is
not possible to throw/pump out anything from engine room
as it may violate the MARPOL rules & regulations.Thus
engine room is often susceptible to flooding, which may
even hamper the safety of the ship.

Causes of E/R Flooding

 Engine Room flooding is considered as
an emergency situation in ships. When
engine room floods, it is obvious that the
propulsion will stop automatically if left
unnoticed. In the advent of unmanned
machinery spaces, it is highly important
that the bilges and all alarm systems must
function properly to give warnings when
such emergencies happen. Many things
may lead to engine room flooding starting
from minor sea water pipe leakage to a
hole in the ship's hull. The most common
reasons for engine room flooding are,
1. Sea water pipe leakage, left unattended, becomes a
large rupture, causing sudden outburst of sea water into
the engine room.
2. Bilges left unattended, alarms reposed, and continuous
leakage of water from pump glands etc.
3. Overboard valves (ship side valves) are at very bad
rusted condition, thus giving way, causing rupture of
pipeline and sea water entry.
4. Sea suction filters not being boxed up properly and
opening of the valve after improper tightening, sometimes
lifts away the top cover makes sea water to rush inside the
engine room.
5. Boiler blow down valve, if rusted and in very bad
condition, may lead to pipe rupture, (during blowdown),
causing engine room to flood with boiler water as well as
sea water.
6. When stern tube gland seals leak, sea water starts to
come into the engine room.
7. During some maintenance, like plate type heat
exchangers cleaning, accidental opening of the plates(with
out knowing whether the valves hold or not), may definitely
flood the engine room.
8. Sludge tanks/waste oil tanks overflow/ fuel oil overflow
tank overflowing during bunkering etc all contribute to
potential hazards of engine room flooding.
9. Rupturing of ship sides(hull) due to corrosion.
10. Grounding of ship (not electrical grounding) in shallow
areas may cause buckling in the engine room area where
sea water starts to enter the engine room directly or
indirectly (hull gets ruptured in the way of bilge tank or any
other tank causing it to overflow)
11. Collision of the ship with other ship or with berths/jetty
in the way of engine room may cause flooding.
12. If the sounding pipe is not of self-closing or the cap is
left open, and that particular tank gets filled up and left
unnoticed, may lead to flooding of engine room.

Safety Arrangements
 The main safety
arrangement provided to
counter the flooding of the
engine room is the
provision of the "Emergency
Bilge Suction Valve". This
valve is same as a
normal globe valve, but to
be specific, it is usually of
the "screw-down non-
return" type. This valve is
located in the bottom most
platform having 2 or 3
locations from which the
valve can be operated.
The valve is connected to a pipe, which is left open at the
engine room bilge, such that it can take suction. The other
end of the valve is connected to sea water pump suction,
which is normally the highest capacity pump in the engine
room. If ballast pump is a highest capacity pump in the
engine room then the valve may have a connection to the
ballast pump too. The regulation states, " the valve outlet
must be connected to the highest capacity pump in the
engine room, thus enabling to throw the water overboard,
sufficiently to cope up with the rate of incoming sea water."
Also, there is conventional
way of pumping out bilges,
is through "oily water
separator", via the 15 ppm
 equipment as per the
MARPOL regulations. This
method is normally used for
pumping out engine room
bilges, but the capacity is
inadequate to cope up with
emergencies like engine
room flooding. Also the best
way to achieve 15 ppm is to
keep the throughput to
minimum.

Course Of Action for Engine Room Flooding

Vessel Is In Port:
1. Inform Chief Engineer & Duty Officer on the bridge
(cargo control room), sound the General Emergency
Alarm.
2. Make sure the power requirement is met by starting
& synchronizing additional generator.
3. After getting approval & with the presence of Chief
Engineer, open the "Emergency Bilge Suction" valve.
4. Try to locate and isolate the leakage.
5. Follow Chief Engineer's instructions.
Vessel is at Sea:
1. Inform Chief Engineer & bridge immediately.
2. Sound general emergency alarm and invite man power.
3. Start additional generators and necessary machineries.
4. Open emergency bilge suction valve with the
permission and presence of Chief Engineer.
5. It may require to shut down the plant, stopping engines
and start emergency generator, shutting the main sea
suction valve, to carry out repair works