A severe hand injury to 2nd Eng. while working on AC compressor One of the vessels from seaspan Company was on her way from Savannah, the USA to Cartagena, Colombia.

During the evening at 2055 hrs LT, the usual night rounds were carried out by the duty Second Engineer. During the rounds, one of the “V” belts of the accommodation AC compressor was found loose and slipping on the pulley. The Second Engineer in an attempt to carry out the replacement of the lose “V” belt, decided to stop the AC by closing the discharge valve of the condenser. The compressor tripped with low suction pressure but was still in standby mode. Unfortunately, the electric motor for the compressor was not switched off from the breaker before beginning to cut the belt for replacement. The compressor restarted during this time and the Second Engineer’s right hand was caught in between the pulley and the belt resulting in severe injury and loss of four fingers of the right hand.
Vessel Master immediately proceeded full speed towards the next port and 14 hours after the incident the injured individual was disembarked onto a Colombian coast guard speedboat and transported to the local hospital for surgery and recovery.

From the preliminary report from the vessel it would appear that the replacement of the lose “V” belt was attempted without de-energizing the compressor’s electric motor and while the compressor was stopped it remained in Stand By mode.

What action we should take to avoid this kind of incident on board.comment below on the comment box.