At about 1540 on 10 July 2006, while Enterprise was in Bass
Strait, Australia, an alarm sounded indicating that the main engine
lubricating oil pressure was low. When the duty engineer started
changing over to a second filter, lubricating oil pressure was
lost; causing the engine to stop and the ship to black-out. The
engine was restarted and the passage was resumed.
At 1805, the main engine low lubricating oil pressure alarm
sounded again. At 2000, after further inspections had been
undertaken, the chief engineer advised the master that the main
engine could not be run due to probable bearing damage and that the
ship would need to be towed to the nearest port for repairs. The
main lubricating oil pump was also found, at this time, to have
failed.
The ship was towed into Melbourne, arriving on 15 July, where
all main and bottom end bearings were inspected. A large gouge mark
was found on one bottom end bearing.
Further investigations revealed that the gudgeon pin in number
five piston had failed when a pre-existing, undetected flaw led to
fatigue cracking of the gudgeon pin. The engine manufacturer had
not provided sufficient guidance for monitoring the fatigue life of
gudgeon pins or for inspecting gudgeon pins for cracks.
The investigation also found that maintenance planning for the
main lubricating oil pump was inadequate in that maintenance was
not undertaken according to the manufacturer's instructions,
despite the fact that the pump had failed previously.
The execution of routine maintenance on the lubricating oil
filter was also inadequate in that the spare filter was not ready
for use. The shipboard procedures did not identify the error and
the procedures for operating and monitoring the filter were also
ineffective.
The report makes three recommendations to address the identified
safety issues with the aim of preventing other similar
occurrences.
Download final report
[PDF 601 KB
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Marine Recommendations
[MR20070027]
[MR20070028]
[MR20070029]