Leak in fuel supply line causes engine to shut down

  • DP Event
  • Published on 29 May 2018
  • Generated on 18 September 2026
  • DPE 02/18
  • 2 minute read

Undesired event

A fuel leak developed in a corroded supply pipe to the port main engine. This caused air to be drawn into the system and the engine to shut down.

DPE 18.02 – Leak in fuel supply line causes engine to shut down – DP Undesired Event – Flowchart

Comments

The vessel was employed within the renewable energy sector, no details were given of the drilling activities.

A fuel leak developed in a corroded supply pipe to the port main engine. This caused air to be drawn into the system and the engine to shut down.

Redundancy worked as designed. The split fuel system ensured that only the port side of the engine room was affected and operations were suspended due to loss of redundancy.

Considerations

  • It was noted that three DGNSS were selected to DP; clearly this is not in accordance with DP equipment class 2 that requires position reference systems to have at least two different principles of operation.
  • The vessel was operating closed bus and while the failure did not exceed the vessel’s designed worst case, a different fault on the electrical system may have resulted in a more significant DP system failure.
  • Water depth of 45m only provides a small envelope of operation.
  • Actions taken in response to the failure appear to be appropriate and in line with good practice.
  • The planned maintenance system (PMS) for critical piping systems should be reviewed. For an F.O. supply line to fail due to corrosion should warrant complete inspection of the rest of the system, and a review of past inspections/maintenance so that similar faults are not missed in the future.

Latest DP incidents

  • Know your equipment, or at least where to find the answers

    During an update in the Follow Target Mode, the crew noticed an anomaly with joystick control.

    DPE 02/26

    1 September 2026

    Observation

  • New equipment, unexpected consequences

    During the operation, a loss of DGNSS correction signals was experienced across multiple vessel DGNSS units.

    DPE 02/26

    1 September 2026

    Incident

  • A chain of small failures leads to a major consequence

    While conducting cargo operations on DP a vessel experienced a partial blackout caused by an unexpected shutdown of generator 3

    DPE 02/26

    1 September 2026

    Incident

  • Holding position, losing references

    While approaching a turret-moored, weather-vaning offshore installation (FPSO), in preparation for cargo operations, a DP equipment class 2 vessel experienced significant rolling of up to 15–20° due to a long-period swell close to the vessel’s natural roll period, resulting in a resonance effect

    DPE 02/26

    1 September 2026

    Observation

  • DP drill scenario – Loss of seawater cooling pump redundancy

    Exercise scenario – Loss of seawater cooling pump redundancy

    DPE 02/26

    1 September 2026

    Drill Scenario

The case studies and observations above have been compiled from information received by IMCA. All vessel, client, and operational data has been removed from the narrative to ensure anonymity. Case studies are not intended as guidance on the safe conduct of operations, but rather to assist vessel managers, DP operators, and technical crew.

IMCA makes every effort to ensure both the accuracy and reliability of the information, but it is not liable for any guidance and/or recommendation and/or statement herein contained.

Any queries should be directed to DP team at IMCA. Share your DP incidents with IMCA online. Sign-up to receive DP event bulletins straight to your email.

We may use anonymised cookies for some functionality on this site. With your consent, we would also like to use tracking to improve our online offering. Find out more.