AWP Web Blog

On a vessel, a power bank exploded and caught fire at night whilst it was being charged.

Despite decades of awareness campaigns, regulatory updates, and repeated industry commitments, seafarers and shore workers continue to lose their lives in enclosed spaces on board ships, often in circumstances that were entirely preventable.

This Safety Alert is issued by the Bahamas Maritime Authority to raise awareness of the serious hazards associated with Hydrogen Sulphide (H₂S). It also highlights the requirement for risk assessment and precautions to be in place prior to opening any enclosed space that may contain this, or any other, toxic gas. It is based on the preliminary findings of a marine safety investigation, the second very serious marine casualty involving hydrogen sulphide that The Bahamas fleet suffered in 2025.

The Japan Transport Safety Board has published report MA2025-4 into a fatal incident which occurred in May 2024 on a bulk carrier moored at a port in Japan.

DNV has recently identified cases where CO₂ fire extinguishing systems had multiple depleted CO₂ cylinders, potentially compromising fire safety and vessel integrity. More about this below.

On December 5, 2024, a 577-foot, foreign-flagged, vehicle carrier allided with a facility terminal while attempting to moor during inclement wind conditions. The incident resulted in structural damage to both the facility’s infrastructure and the vessel’s hull that exceeded $1,000,000.

Increased instances of issues with the carriage of scrap metal cargo highlights the need for vigilance at loading.

This increase has been noted particularly in scrap cargoes loaded in the ports of East Coast USA and notably in the port of Ghent (Belgium).

It is estimated that around 350 seafarers and 3rd party workers have been killed due to asphyxiation in enclosed spaces on ships since 1996. 43 accidents have occurred since 2022, accounting for 70 of these deaths.

Reminder on the dangers of watertight doors after a fatality onboard.

While witnessing routine testing of a fixed firefighting system during an annual exam aboard a foreign passenger vessel, the Coast Guard discovered multiple high-pressure water mist nozzles that were incapable of discharging water.