Fire on Board the Liberian Passenger Ship Ecstasy, Miami, Florida ...

Factual Information 54 Marine Accident Reportcompanies have revised their SMS to include procedures for maintaining the ventilationducts in a fire-safe condition.Qualitative Failure AnalysisRegulatory requirements. In 1988, the Coast Guard issued regulations(46 CFR 62, “Vital System Automation” 43 ) requiring the use of a qualitative failureanalysis of certain automated systems, including propulsion control systems. In proposingthe regulatory requirement that designers, manufacturers, and/or shipyards perform andsubmit system failure analysis, the Coast Guard stated that the use of advanced automationtechnologies such as electronics and microprocessors made it increasingly difficult, “attimes impossible, for the Coast Guard, ship owners/operators, and classification societiesto evaluate safety.” The Coast Guard further stated:The Coast Guard has chosen to propose safety performance standards that, to thegreatest extent practicable, state the desired operation or function withoutaddressing detailed design criteria…As an alternative to detail evaluation, theCoast Guard proposes (to require) a failure analysis of the design and a selfcertificationof design compliance to certain…standards. [This process]emphasizes the responsibility of the parties most familiar with any automationsystem, i.e., the designer and manufacturer, to evaluate and certify the safety ofthe system. It also provides an evaluation means that is suited to technologicalchanges. In most cases, the failure analysis will identify a preferred fail-safe state.Systems that would be required to be independent, that is, have arrangements thatprovide a level of safety and reliability equivalent to complete duplication,include:• Controls systems• Alarms and instrumentation (monitoring systems)The IMO subsequently adopted regulations requiring that a failure modes andeffects analysis (FMEA) 44 be performed for the machinery and control systems of highspeedvessels. 45 The IMO and classification societies presently do not require the use ofFMEA for passenger vessel propulsion system designs. 4643 Subpart 62.10 defines system as an arrangement of elements that interact to perform a specificfunction and vital system as that which is essential to the safety of the vessel, its passengers, and its crew.44 An FMEA is an inductive approach to identifying engineering design deficiencies by examining eachindividual component or process in a system to determine how its failure or deviation from intendedperformance might affect the entire system. By conducting a FMEA, engineers can modify the design of asystem before it is built to avoid catastrophic or significant system failures.45 The International Code of Safety for High Speed Craft, adopted in 1994, mandated the use of FMEAbecause these craft employed new technologies.46LR’s Propulsion and Steering Machinery Redundancy contains provisional rules that are in additionto the classification society’s Rules and Regulations for the Classification of Ships. LR’s provisional rules,which are optional for vessel owners, stipulate the use of FMEA in designing propulsion systems, electricalpower supplies, essential services, control systems, and steering arrangements. According to LR’sprovisional rules, the FMEA report must show that a single failure in the propulsion and related auxiliarysystems will not cause loss of all propulsion or steering capability.