RAG IN FILTER CAUSES AUXILIARY BREAKDOWN

10th Jan. 05

We had a Auxiliary Engine bottom end bearing failure immediately after starting & running in for 3 minutes.

This engine started after filter routines carried out by 4th engineer. Normally oilmen / Donkey Greasers open the LO filters and Fuel Oil filters for cleaning. This was the practice on board the ship.

However at one time despite the presence of 4th Engineer or 5th Engineer, during a break in filter cleaning the filter cover was left open for a while.

A small piece of cloth entered the filter box and traveled to no 2 unit and blocked partially the flow of oil resulting in malfunction of bottom end bearing.

The whole engine had to be dismantled, and the crank shaft sent for grinding and an undersize bearing fitted. A lot of money was spent on workshop assistance, and the engine crew had to work extra hours to complete the A/E assembly.

So better to take precautions while cleaning filters. Even though it is a small job, due to someone's mistake it may lead to a very big breakdown of auxiliaries or main engine.