REPORT ON THE INVESTIGATION OF THE ESCAPE OF VINYL CHLORIDE MONOMER ON BOARD CORAL ACROPORA

The present report contains the results of the investigation following the VCM (vinyl chloride monomer) escape which occurred on board gas carrier Coral Acropora. Subject vessel was preparing to commence the discharge of the cargo into the shore tanks located approximately 3 kilometers from the berth.

Upon arrival, a cargo surveyor had preformed the calculation of the cargo quantity and asked the chief officer of the vessel to run a cargo pump in each of the tanks as the cargo samples were taken. However, the chief officer of Coral Acropora was not aware of the requirement for cargo sampling and had not made necessary arrangements. The decision was made by the chief officer to accede to the surveyor's request without including subject sampling operation in the ship's discharge plan. The aft tank valves were opened allowing the cargo recirculation.

After that, the chief officer run the aft tank pump through the local controls on tank top. The surveyor started to fill the cargo sample cylinder from the designated sampling point of the tanks. After several minutes, the cargo alarm sounded. The chief officer muted the alarm klaxon since he assumed that the alarm indicated tripping of the cargo pump; however, he could not know that for sure without checking in the cargo office...