C1/2009M VL TELKKÄ, engine breakdown on November 4, 2008

On November 4, 2008 a station ship TELKKÄ left for a training voyage which took place on the South side of the Storklobb’s coastguard station. There were 15 persons on board: the crew of 11 persons and additional four persons including 3 persons from the Coast Guard and one person from the Navy.

The main engines and the bow thruster were started at 10:38 and the vessel unmoored at 10:45 at the Storrklobb pier. After the vessel had made her way through the narrow passage on the South side of Storklobb, the Officer on Watch handed over the responsibility of the BB main engine to the Engine Room Watch in order to keep proceeding only with the SB-main engine. The engines were driven with the kombinator and the helm was on hand steering. The bow thruster had been lifted up and its diesel engine was shut down.

The first engineer was in the engine room carrying out the normal departure routines. The vessel was driven slowly with the SB main engine. According to the first engineer’s observations all actions had been taken care of in an appropriate way and there was nothing unusual in the engine room.

At about 11:00 while the first engineer was still in the engine room an exceptionally sudden and strong raise of the engine revolutions attracted his attention. The revolutions of the engine rose within a few seconds and the first engineer barely made it to safe, before the engine raced and broke down. The main engine practically went beyond repair after the racing. There weren’t any personal injuries, fires or other damages.

According to the investigations made the main engine’s defective and poor racing protection can be considered to be the primary cause of the accident. The engine manufacturer has been aware of this defect and they announced that they have sent service bulletins to all players using the same engine type. The manufacturer has announced that they have sent the service bulletin in question to the West Finland Coast Guard District year 1999. (However, West Finland Coast Guard District wasn’t established until 2004). However, TELKKÄ has not received the service bulletin in question.

The investigation board recommends that there should be a receive confirmation about important service bulletins

C1/2009M Report (pdf, 1.0 Mt)