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Galley fire: Failure to follow stove/oven installation instructions

What happened?

The United States Coastguard (USCG) has published Marine Safety Alert 02-17, relating to a fire on an offshore platform. A manufacturer had improperly installed a commercial grade electric stove. As a result, the platforms crew was awakened by the sound of smoke alarms from a galley fire. They acted quickly to isolate and fight the fire and were assisted by another vessel. The crews’ rapid response limited the damage, which could have been much worse.

Members should be reminded of the importance of following instructions when installing or indeed operating galley cooking equipment, and in particular may wish to ensure that all commercial grade stoves and ovens are installed with the proper clearances to prevent ignition of combustible materials.

The full Safety Alert can be found on the USCG website.

Members may wish to refer to the following incident:

Safety Event

Published: 25 May 2017
Download: IMCA SF 12/17

Relevant life-saving rules:
IMCA Safety Flashes
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IMCA Safety Flashes summarise key safety matters and incidents, allowing lessons to be more easily learnt for the benefit of all. The effectiveness of the IMCA Safety Flash system depends on Members sharing information and so avoiding repeat incidents. Please consider adding [email protected] to your internal distribution list for safety alerts or manually submitting information on incidents you consider may be relevant. All information is anonymised or sanitised, as appropriate.

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