Risk assessment of sea chest fouling on the ship machinery systems by using both FMEA method and ERS process

Abstract

ABSTRACT Sea pollution has negative consequences and has an impact on the marine ecosystem and ship machinery processes. The main risk of sea pollution on ship is based on sea chests that are used for ballast water and firefighting. In addition to this, sea chest fouling, which primarily forms as a result of pollution, has an impact on the ship machinery, navigation in waterways, and the environment. The possibility of failure related to sea chest fouling issues in seawater cooling systems used to cool ship machinery parts were investigated in this study. Significant defects in the cooling and related engine systems were determined using both a full-mission Kongsberg engine room simulator (ERS) process and failure modes and effects (FMEA) technique, which relied on expert judgments within the cause–effect relationship. According to the findings, sea chest pollution has a direct impact on the ships’ cooling water systems and other related components, causes power losses, and leads the main engine to shut down, resulting in the ship losing maneuverability. As a result of these circumstances, the risk of catastrophic events such as grounding, contact, collision, flooding, fire explosion, and others was determined.