Whilst unloading a sand cargo, black smoke was seen pouring from the side panel/electrical box of the ships discharge excavator. The operator was alerted and attempted to turn off the machine by key but it failed to switch off. An attempt was made to open the side panel of the excavator. Once the black smoke had cleared no flames were identified but significant charring/melting was seen on the main electrical panel. Around 2 minutes later the engine cut out on the excavator and all electrical power to the cab was lost.
The ships emergency plan was activated by the Master and once the scene was secure the engineers disconnected and removed the batteries in case of a secondary electrical issue/failure. In addition a fire watchman was put in place.
INVESTIGATION:
An investigation was carried out by an external electrical contractor. This identified that the root cause was moisture ingress into the electrical compartment of the discharge excavator as a consequence of corrosion caused by weathering and salt-water action.
At this point no extinguisher or water had been discharged and the burn/fire had self-extinguished.