SECTION 5 - EMERGENCY PROCEDURES
5.
EMERGENCY PROCEDURES
This section deals with damage control procedures to prevent a controllable situation from further endangering
personnel or the vessel.
5.1
GROUNDING
a)
Grounding can occur underway or sitting dead in the water at pier side. Since grounding while underway can
cause more damage and be more life threatening because you are at sea, this section will assume grounding
occurs under power.
CAUTION
STOP ENGINES
STOP GENERATORS
INSPECT HULL
b) IF LEAKS ARE OBSERVED, GO DIRECTLY TO Section 5.2
c)
Grounding while going ahead can cause propeller blades to bend or break off. In some rare cases, a broken
blade has penetrated the hull. The same can happen going astern but there is the additional danger of bent
blades contacting the shaft strut.
d)
Propeller shafts can be bent or broken in grounding, stopping engines immediately can prevent overspeed of
the engine. If the shaft breaks inside the boat, there is danger that it will pull out leaving an open hole at the
stuffing box.
e)
Shaft stuffing boxes should be examined for leaks.
f)
Rudders can be bent in a grounding. They also can penetrate the hull, break shafts or have leaking stuffing
boxes.
g)
Outboards and outdrives are usually protected by slip clutches to prevent total loss of motive power. Should
damage result from groundings, consult your manual. The area around the outdrive should be inspected.
h)
Anywhere a penetration has been made in the hull (shaft logs, rudder logs, transducers,
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