The Coast Guard has seen a number of instances where there was lack of knowledge regarding the installation, training, maintenance and inspection of these certified systems.
At this juncture, the USCG has issued a Safety Alert to emphasize the importance of properly installed and maintained listed or certified safe electrical equipment in hazardous areas in order to reduce the risk of fire or explosion onboard vessels.
Deficiencies related to electrical equipment
Electrical equipment in hazardous areas is common at the Top 5 deficiencies found on liquefied gas carriers during Certificate of Compliance (COC) exams, published by the Liquefied Gas Carrier National Center of Expertise (LGC NCOE). This past year, 12% of all deficiencies written to gas carriers involved hazardous area electrical equipment.
PSC Officers (PSCOs) have found certified safe equipment improperly installed or identified missing components, which compromises the certification of the system and nullifies this critical protection in a flammable environment. In other cases, PSCOs found degraded components and evidence of equipment not being maintained or inspected.
Additionally, USCG personnel nationwide have discovered instances where individuals responsible for the installation, maintenance, and oversight of this equipment onboard foreign and domestic vessels were unfamiliar with the appropriate standards to follow.
Reasons for structural fires
Meanwhile, the National Fire Protection Agency published Fires in Industrial and Manufacturing Properties in March 2018 and reported that “electrical distribution and lighting equipment (24%) was the leading cause of structural fires in industrial properties from 2011-2015.”
Moreover, IUMI issued a press release IUMI Voices Concerns over Growing Number of Roro Fires reporting that, “marine accident reports in recent years have identified several sources of fires….a significant (leading) number of these incidents have occurred because of electrical fires.”
Fire protection standards
Fire and explosion protection standards for electrical equipment in the oil and gas industry worldwide is a substantial part of the industry’s safety barrier. Regulatory and certification authorities routinely use their own standards. The US, for example, may use the National Electrical Code (NEC) or American Petroleum Institute (API) standards while other countries have separate requirements.
However, for vessels subject to SOLAS, electrical equipment installations in hazardous areas are required to meet a standard not inferior to those of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), in particular IEC 60092-502:1999. This requirement is reiterated and further applies to:
- tank vessels (SOLAS II-1),
- gas carriers (IGC Code),
- chemical tankers (IBC Code) and
- vessels using gases or other low flashpoint fuel (IGF Code).
For US vessels, hazardous area standards are laid out in 46 CFR Subchapter J, specifically 46 CFR Subpart 111.105 – Hazardous Locations.
The Coast Guard’s interpretation is that §111.105 does provide a set of design standards that are not inferior to the IEC 60092-502:1999 standard specified in SOLAS.
“While hazardous area design standards are included in 46 CFR Subchapter J, the requirements for proper training, inspection and maintenance are not explicitly provided. Furthermore, requirements for these operational aspects of ensuring hazardous area electrical safety and system integrity are more robustly covered in the IEC standards than they are in some of the corresponding national standards.”
USCG recommendations
With respect to the above, USCG strongly recommends that owners, operators, shipboard personnel and service providers:
- Familiarize themselves with additional IEC standards that are called out by IEC 60092- 502:1999 and in particular IEC 60079-14, 60079-17, and IEC 60079-19 as it relates to the proper training, inspection, maintenance, and documentation of electrical equipment installed in hazardous areas to ensure that no potential ignition source is present in hazardous areas aboard tank vessels, gas carriers and vessels using gases or other low flashpoint fuels.
- Ensure proper training for operators and persons with executive functions conducted to a standard not inferior to the IEC at all appropriate levels.
- Implement an appropriate periodic inspection and maintenance program by competent personnel.
- Any repairs should be made by a competent technician or repair facility. When in doubt, a representative of the equipment manufacturer should be consulted. Any modifications to existing systems must be discussed with and approved by the appropriate regulatory authority (i.e., USCG, flag administration, or vessel classification society).
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Source: USCG Safety Alert
