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A natural gas condensate leak occurred in the aft pump room of a Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel while a cargo tank was being pumped out to the aft slop tank via a temporary line-up and stripping pump. It was originally a very large crude carrier (VLCC) which had been converted to an FPSO and was moored in 790m (2560 ft) of water in a gas field. Several gas detectors in the pump room alarmed, confirming presence and movement of an explosive atmosphere. However, emergency responders entered the area multiple times to locate, assess and repair the leak. Attempts to clean-up the leaked material with absorbent mats were unsuccessful, so a fire hose was deployed to perform a ‘water sweep’ while the repair was ongoing. A major explosion occurred, destroying the bulkhead between the engine room and the adjacent pump room.
Ask yourself and your crew:
- How can something like this happen here (e.g. on our site)?
- What safety measures (i.e. procedures, controls/barriers) do we have in place to mitigate the risk?
- How do we know the risk controls/barriers are working?
- What improvements or changes should we make to the procedures, controls/barriers or the way we work?
Original content courtesy of IChemE Safety Centre
