Melbourne wooden boat explosion - 2 killed

[The Bigfella]

Its been a bad week for boating in Australia. First, the six deaths on Sydney Harbour, now two dead in Melbourne after a 36' wooden cruiser exploded after refueling. :mad:

http://optuszoo.news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=456897&rss=yes&_cobr=optus

[hansp77]

Looks like a bad one.:(
Its always unwise to take details at this point- but the news report just before said that they had just taken delivery of the boat today or yesterday.
Out on its first outing- the 45yr old owner had his parents on board for a day of celebration... I think they are the dead ones. Poor guy looked devastated on the news.
Blew up after repeated attempts at starting.
It was Halverson (36).

Rather sobering for petrol fueled boat owners like myself.

RIP.

[hansp77]

yep- parents were the ones that died- and bought this morning from Williamstown.

[C. Ross]

Condolences to the family. Bad scene.
A boat blew up at the gas dock at my club last summer, injuries but no deaths. Scared me straight. I got religion about my fueling routine. I'm the only one on board when I start up, with my passengers standing well back on the dock.

[The Bigfella]

There was a report that the boat wouldn't start after the refueling - then a major explosion.

[rufustr]

file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Owner/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-10.jpg
Maiden voyage becomes a day of hell

http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2008/05/03/PM_boat_wideweb__470x299,0.jpgThe Leda II.



Reid Sexton
May 4, 2008


TRAGEDY struck the new owners of the Leda II hours after they took delivery of the veteran cruiser from a Williamstown boat broker yesterday.
The owners — whose names had not been released last night — told the proprietor of Aussie Boat Sales they were heading across the lower Yarra to Pier 35 to fuel the boat.
That was just before lunch. By 2pm, two people were dead and four were injured, including the couple who had bought the boat.
Boat broker Terry O'Hare said the new owner and her partner had been keen to get on the water after clinching the sale about a week ago.
"They were in great spirits," he said. "They were obviously excited about taking the boat out."
The 11-metre cruiser, built in 1955, had gone smoothly when sales staff had taken the couple for test runs before the sale.
"It was an old boat but it was in good condition for its age," Mr O'Hare said last night. "We have nothing to hide. The police have been here and discussed it."
The boat had been equipped with old flares, a problem he said he fixed by lending a new safety kit containing new flares, lifejackets and a first-aid kit.
"We knew the flares would be right up to date, not that they'd need the flares because they were only going up the river. But if they got picked up by the water police they had the safety gear on board."
Aussie Boat Sales does not own boats it sells but arranges sales for owners, much like a real estate agent.
Mr O'Hare would not name the boat's previous owner but said he had given the details to police. He did not know if the buyers had organised an independent inspection by a marine engineer, but he believed they had had some work done to the boat before taking delivery.
Boats sold in Victoria do not require safety inspections before a sale is finalised, but many owners obtain them, anyway.
He said everyone assumed the fatal explosion was petrol-related "but there was gas on board, too".
On their website, the brokers still carried an advertisement for the boat yesterday afternoon.
For $29,000 the buyer would get a "Classic Halvorsen 36 cruiser, restored approx. 10 years ago in great condition", the advertisement read. "This boat is in excellent condition for age, and although she is in need of some TLC, she is very seaworthy, has heaps … of character and is well below normal market price for any boat of this size."
file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Owner/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-9.jpg

[Peter Eikenberry]

This is an all too familiar scenario. I investigated quite a few boat explosions in the late 70's and have read many reports on the same. Following the correct procedure is all importatn. See my blog on fueling http://newboatbuilders.blogspot.com/2008/04/boating-safety-boat-accidents-and_7847.html

The boat is fueled, either incorrectly, or there is a leak somewhere, usually in the fill line spilling gas into the bilge. At this point the fuel air ratio is so rich it won't go boom, but run your blower for five minutes like your are supposed to and now you have the fuel air ratio into the explosive range. Add to that a balky engine, probably electrical, and one spark is all it takes. Back then we wondered why a lot of boats fueled, started up, got about a hundred feet or so and then blew. That's when the fumes in the engine room lean out enough to enter the explosive range.

So not only do you have to follow the proper fueling procedures you need to make sure your fuel system is in good condition, the hoses are in good shape and the electrical (ignition) system is working properly and all the boots, caps, and insulation is in good order. In other words proper maintenance. No substituting automotive parts for marine!

[Peter Eikenberry]

Here's another on Lake Lanier http://www.11alive.com/news/article_news.aspx?storyid=115327

[John B]

Was it a gasoline powered boat?

[Peter Eikenberry]

Must have been. Diesel rarely explodes. Here's another article. http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23639065-1702,00.html?from=public_rss

It had just been filled with 200 litres of petrol when it exploded at a floating fuel station at Pier 35, just before 2pm (AEST).

[The Bigfella]

That was cheap for a Halverson 36. Main cabin has been rebuilt.

[carioca1232001]

Must have been. Diesel rarely explodes. Here's another article. http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23639065-1702,00.html?from=public_rss

Under what conditions can diesel explode ?

What I do know, is that our state-owned petro giant, Petrobras, had a TV add on the air, commensurate with the addition of alcohol to diesel fuel.

It said : Kindly take note that we have started adding alcohol to diesel fuel. DO NOT DROP A SMOULDERING CIGARETTE BUTT OR MATCH STICK INTO A DIESEL SPILL FOR NOW IT WILL CATCH FIRE !

[The Bigfella]

Ahh - the media at work - calls for all internal combustion petrol engines to be phased out in favour of diesel.

The news report today said that the ignition had been left on during refueling - not that I'd expect that to be an issue, given that a spark would be needed for ignition. Many years ago, I was in a motorbike workshop where a "mechanic" quenched a red-hot piece of metal in a bucket of petrol (used for parts washing). No explosion, but plenty of vapour created. I walked out immediately. Talking to the "mechanic" later, he said "no issue as long as there is no spark"

[hansp77]

Ian- I missed the media at work reference-
could you explain that a little more?
petrol (inboard)engines phased out for new builds? old boats with petrol inboards to be re-fitted with diesel??
cheers mate.

[The Bigfella]

Hans - I was being cynical - the media "at work" trying to change the way things are. I was really pee'd off with Channel 7 the other night trying to get old Morrie Dilemma to accept responsibility for the Sydney Harbour collision.

Channel 7 was saying that "there are calls tonight for all IC petrol engines in boats to be phased out in favour of diesel engines"

They were also out on Sydney Harbour at night calling for better lighting on boats because it was so hard to see other boats. Their damn boat had this bright white strobe light banging away - a real nice way to kill everyone's night vision.

[hansp77]

Thanks for the explanation.

That strobe sounds just great eh?
Have they named it something catchy like a 'marine safety night light'?;)
Totally different point- but somehow it reminds me of attempting to drive 'safe' (particularly in cars without cruise control, or just some cars) by having to take my eyes off the road every minute or so (or more) and check that I am not going 5kms over the speed limit.

Reactionary populous channel 7 'news'... best way to deal with annoyance rising from that is to not watch it in the first place IMO.

All the best.

[The Bigfella]

Totally different point- but somehow it reminds me of attempting to drive 'safe' (particularly in cars without cruise control, or just some cars) by having to take my eyes off the road every minute or so (or more) and check that I am not going 5kms over the speed limit.


Couldn't agree more. I calculated on one interstate trip that my eyes were off the road for something like 200 kms checking the speedo - didn't use cruise control because I was running the car in. .... and I still got booked for doing 120 on the Gold Coast Highway! (cops got the wrong car!)

[skuthorp]

Dreadfull thing to happen, should be some way to ventilate the space.
Somebody decided that blowing up a boat was fun this morning. Took off the petrol cap of a boat parked on a trailer in an inner-city driveway and set it on fire. Explosion about 1am, there are boats parked like this all over Melbourne so let's hope it's not a trend.

[crawdaddyjim50]

Sounds like the nanny staters are on the march...

Sad, soon you will need a note from your block warden to walk across the street.

[The Bigfella]

I see that its brazil's turn now:

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=457320&_cobr=optus



A boat ferrying at least 80 people home from a party sank in Brazil's Amazon region early on Sunday, killing at least 12 and leaving dozens missing, rescue officials say.

[Peter Eikenberry]

Carioca;

I'll give your question a shot.
Under what conditions can diesel explode

You have to have a very hot source of ignition and the fuel has to be in a fine mist mixed with large quantities of air. I don't know the exact parameters. But in a long career of dealing with these kinds of accidents I've seen a lot of gas explosions, a few diesel fires and ONE diesel explosion.

There was a high pressure fuel line with a pin hole. This sprayed a fine mist of diesel into the engine compartment directly onto an extremely hot exhaust manifold. Of course diesels need lots of air to run right and so their was a lot of air flow in the engine compartment.

But as I said that is the only one I have every seen. It takes a very hot source of ignition just to light diesel, just ask anyone who has an oil furnace that doesn't want to light. Fuel oil is just slightly more refined diesel.

Here's the latest on Melbourne
Boat owner rules questioned
The Age Sun, 04 May 2008 7:06 AM PDT
Death of South Melbourne couple leads to calls for tougher regulation of boat transfers http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/boat-owner-rules-questioned/2008/05/04/1209839456812.html?s_cid=rss_news

Boat industry under pressure after explosion
News Interactive Sun, 04 May 2008 3:49 AM PDT
THE boat industry is under pressure to improve safety laws after two people died when a massive explosion ripped apart a boat at Port Melbourne. http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23644524-1702,00.html?from=public_rss

'Vapour build-up' may have caused boat blast
ABC via Yahoo!7 News Sun, 04 May 2008 3:00 AM PDT
Police divers in Melbourne have spent the day working to retrieve the hull of a boat that exploded yesterday, killing two people. http://au.news.yahoo.com/080504/21/16q3z.html

Well, Duh!!!!!

Geez, that was a real smart thing to say.

Sorry, I should keep my smart aleck comments to myself.

The next one is a little better.

Sifting clues to deadly boat blast
Herald Sun Sun, 04 May 2008 7:00 AM PDT
POLICE will view closed-circuit TV footage and piece together the remains of a boat to try to find the cause of the blast that killed an elderly couple. http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23644963-2862,00.html?from=public_rss

Back in the late 70's the CG Aux had a big yellow poster that was self adhesive and fit perfectly on gas pump. It outlined the correct procedures for fueling. . I remember sticking a few of them on gas pumps myself. We need to bring those back

[skuthorp]

New owner maybe not experienced in such a big craft (he may have owned a runabout before), boat out of use for a while, pin hole in a hose, faulty insulation?
I might have spent some time in her before doing anything and he may well have done too, but without any troubleshooting experience it may not have made any difference. Very sad, but not something Govts should react too precipitously too.

[John B]

Yup, any of those. If the boats been parked up for a while, stuck carb float maybe.
Bloody sad whatever it is.

[carioca1232001]

Yes, of course and thanks Peter. The conditions you describe for a diesel explosion are akin to what happens in the cylinder of a diesel engine !

Bigfella, Accidents in the Amazon occur regularly as there aren´t other alternatives for transport besides travelling by boat, up or down the river, and not unusually, bogus companies are found operating river craft. They come to light when accidents surface......a tragic comedy

[Peter Eikenberry]

Boating Law Backlash in Australia
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,23660878-5001031,00.html

I knew this would happen. Any time there is rash of accidents the politicians crawl out of the woodwork and start yelling for more laws. If these people had simply followed the existing rules they would all still be home drinking their Fosters and cooking on the barbie.

It is tragic that it happened but do these people honestly think requiring a license would have prevented any of these. I am not saying they were enevitable, but it most of these cases the people already knew the rules and chose to ignore them.

[The Bigfella]

Yeah -some idiots in the media started with the calls immediately, but to our Premier's credit he hosed them down.

Incidentally - there is very little effective enforcement of the existing regulations. My boat is moored in a 4 knot, no wash zone and boats regularly pass there at full speed. Maritime and Water Police make occasional patrols - but nothing is done to change the behaviour.

[Peter Eikenberry]

You are right, the key is enforcement. As I said in another forum the key to fewer boating accidents is the three E's Education, Enforcement and Engineering. I did the engineering working in Boating Safety with boat manufacturers. We have finally gotten to a point where in the US at least, most states now require some minimum of boating education. There are a few holdouts. But enforcement is the real problem. In places where you have effective enforcement accident rates drop dramatically. Where you don't have enforcement you get accidents like these.

So what's the problem? Money!. Enforcement costs, and governments are loath to appropriate the money for adequate enforcement.

Enforce boating laws ? Why? Only the rich go boating! Thats the kind of thing you hear until something awful happens. Then all the same people who didn't appropriate the money start crying for more laws, when really what they need are more warm bodies on the water enforcing the existing laws. But we have all heard that before.


"The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, "
-- Isaiah 40: 1-3