Near miss: Hose parted

  • Safety Flash
  • Published on 9 November 2016
  • Generated on 13 February 2026
  • IMCA SF 30/16
  • 1 minute read

A Member has reported an incident in which a hose parted. The incident occurred whilst an anchor handling tug (AHT) was delivering deck cargo and fuel oil to a drill ship.

What happened?

Crew noticed that the hose was fouled below the water line of the AHT. Pumping was immediately stopped and the hose was blown down. The hose was then disconnected from the vessel manifold. An attempt was made using the drill ship crane to pick up the hose but this was unsuccessful. The AHT tried to clear the hose by going closer to the drill ship. Attempts were made to use both the AHT vessel crane and the drill ship crane to free the hose, and while this was happening, the hose parted. No oil leak was observed.

PARTED HOSE

Our member noted the following:

  • Root cause: Floatation collars were missing on the hose.
  • The parted hose could have fouled the ship’s propeller resulting in a dangerous situation.
  • Lessons learnt/preventive action:
    • the length and condition of the hose should be checked before work starts
    • where necessary, floatation collars should be used on hoses
    • willingness to stop the job needs reiterating.

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