Navy ship flood 'caused by crew'
A flood which nearly sank HMS Endurance was caused by untrained crew members, a navy report has said.
The navy's report into the near-sinking of HMS Endurance has revealed it was caused by a valve opening as crew changed a filter.
The investigation into the crisis that struck the Portsmouth-based icebreaker shows engineers made mistakes in servicing a strainer in the engine room, which blew and let in thousands of tonnes of sea water.
The crew had tried to improve the flow of water into the ship for converting into fresh water, but the navy has criticised the engineering planning for the operation - and said it was unnecessary anyway.
But the Commander in Chief of the navy has said there is not enough evidence to prosecute anyone at Court Martial.
The report says: 'In the panel's opinion poor engineering standards were applied to the maintenance task of cleaning the high level sea water inlet strainer.
'There was no plan developed to undertake the task, subsequent preparation was lacking and the contribution made by a number of individuals was uncordinated.
'There was no continuity of oversight, and the involvement of Senior Ratings in basic tasks such as cleaning and removing the strainer lid denied them the opportunity to supervise effectively.
The ship was saved after the Chilean navy delivered a pump to the ship and an anchor caught on an underwater spur on December 17, 2008.
The Commander in Chief of the Fleet, Admiral Sir Trevor Soar, said: 'The Royal Navy has learned lessons from this incident.
'The ship's company onboard Endurance at the time of the incident performed in an outstanding manner in the most difficult of circumstances.'
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Friday 25 May 2012
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