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IMCA safety flashes disseminate important information on incidents and potential hazards and the lessons learnt from them that can help prevent incidents occurring elsewhere in the industry.

Individual safety events are available individually online, tagged and searchable, while the traditional PDF collections are also available for download.

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All members are encouraged to contribute relevant safety-related information – please visit our Safety Flash Reporting page for details on the submission process.

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Nicholas Hough
Consultant - Safety and Security
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Dangers of battery charging

A member has reported the following incident which occurred on one of its vessels during normal operations. One cell of a battery used on the engine popped out, causing a […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 01/02

Aluminium fresh water tanks: Near collapse due to serious corrosion

During an owner’s annual inspection, serious corrosion attacks were found in integrated aluminium fresh water tanks, which required extensive repair. Brackets and stiffeners were found partly corroded through, as shown […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 01/02

Lacerated wound and fracture of the knee

We have been notified of the following incident in the drilling sector. An assistant driller and others were trying to lift the balancing frame to ‘guide line’ with the aid […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 01/02

MSA Surety Sure-Stop™ shock absorbers

Members should be aware of the following ‘Stop Use & Recall Notice’ issued by Mine Safety Appliances Company (MSA). The full list of products involved is available on request from […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 13/01

Winch incident

A member has reported that one of its vessels was trenching, during which time the ship was told to hold present speed with the tow wire payed in at the […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 13/01

Fatality involving offshore drilling pipe rack flingers

We have been passed the following safety alert issued by the US Minerals Management Service. Recently, while two roustabouts were positioning a stand of pipe into a pipe rack finger […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 13/01

Exploding light and smoke marker

A member has reported that two Ikaros man-overboard light and smoke markers, manufactured by Hansson Pyrotech, were returned from one of its ships to its shore-based workshops. The units had […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 13/01

Improper slinging of cargo

We have been passed the following, regarding an incident which resulted in cargo loss. While making a lift from a boat to the platform, the operator picked up a cargo […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 13/01

Grit hose parting: Near-miss incident

A member reports that while a diver was working on a grit-blasting operation, the grit hose parted from the coupling connection on deck. No one was injured and nothing was […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 13/01


Fatality during maintenance of elevator lift

The following fatality, which occurred during a routine maintenance task on an elevator lift installed on a rig, has been reported to IMCA. The task being undertaken was to change […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 13/01

Electrical fire in engine room

A member has reported the following incident which occurred onboard one of its vessels. Due to a sudden power fluctuation, evidenced by flickering lights, the chief engineer went to the […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 13/01

Retrieval of buoys

In October 1995, IMCA published guidance R 1/95 (now referred to as IMCA R 001 – Plastic spherical air-filled fishing buoys) referring to plastic spherical buoys, sometimes know as ‘Grimsby’ […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 13/01

Medical device recall – defibrillator

We have been passed a recall notice, copied below, put out by Laerdal Medical Ltd regarding its Heartstart 3000 and 3000QR defibrillators.

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 12/01

Failure of cable socks (Chinese fingers) on subsea rigging

We have been passed information on the following incident. A 2″ diameter pipeline dewatering hose had been deployed to the seabed, supported at 20 m intervals by cable socks (Chinese […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 12/01

Incident as a result of failure of a bollard

A member has reported the following incident. A cargo barge loaded with 525 tons was moored to a pipelay barge, when one of the bollards on the cargo barge broke […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 12/01


Negative pressure injury to a diver

A member has reported this recent incident, concerning negative pressure when breaking containment in subsea pipework. During diving operations on a subsea manifold in 140 msw, work was being undertaken […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 12/01

Dropped object risk

A member has reported finding the ‘job-made’ lifting hook shown below, rough cut from half inch steel plate, during a routine safety check at a vendor’s shipyard. The lifting hook […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 12/01


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