Do you LOTO engines on boats when doing hull inspections, and if so, how?

[Cthippo]

I got thinking about this as I was drifting off to sleep last night.

When you are working on a hull in the water, whether inspecting it, replacing zincs, cleaning or whatever, do you lock the engines out and if so, how? Is there a lock out point on the engine controls you put your lock on? Is this true for recreational craft?

Just curious.

 

[Johnoly]

Just curious.

Props are not the only problem. U/W Stray high voltage in marina's is a bigger problem for hull cleaners.

 

[Tracy]

I got thinking about this as I was drifting off to sleep last night.

When you are working on a hull in the water, whether inspecting it, replacing zincs, cleaning or whatever, do you lock the engines out and if so, how? Is there a lock out point on the engine controls you put your lock on? Is this true for recreational craft?

Just curious.

yes. I take the keys with me. Typically I also have a second person watching the stray current monitor and the boat.

 

[broncobowsher]

So many different ways things work. Take the keys, are you sure that is the only set? If you really want to lock it, take off the battery cables and lock them together.

 

[Akimbo]

When you are working on a hull in the water, whether inspecting it, replacing zincs, cleaning or whatever, do you lock the engines out and if so, how? Is there a lock out point on the engine controls you put your lock on?

There is a procedure on larger vessels which starts with the dive supervisor collaborating with the chief engineer that involves plenty of tags and padlocks. They will work out a safe working zone for divers. For example, bow thrusters and sea chests more than an umbilical length forward of the work area on the stern don't need to be secured.

The chief engineer is usually responsible for notifying officers and crew plus securing running gear. Most running gear are electrically controlled on modern ships so locking circuit breakers usually does the job — engines (propulsion and generators), seawater pumps, props, active passivation, sonar, active stabilizers and steering gear. There are times when all the pumps can't be shut down but the sea chests are usually large enough that a few critical pumps can run without endangering divers.

They may also notify the dock or yard supervisor so cargo transfer and work that could potentially drop materials on the underwater work zone are suspended. The dive supervisor is responsible to make sure divers stay clear of crush zones, like between the dock and ship or keel and the bottom.

There is a similar procedure when the ship goes into drydock. It can get pretty complicated if you need to run HVAC and refrigeration services that depends on seawater cooling.

 

[SlugLife]

Props are not the only problem. U/W Stray high voltage in marina's is a bigger problem for hull cleaners.

I would have never thought of that. This is a perfect example of why commercial-training is needed for commercial-diving (which I don't have). RVs tend to be 30 to 50 amps (120v) each, and I'd imagine boat-docks are the same. Add that up across several boats.

I'll add steel-dock-cables to the list of hazards.

 

[Celt]

9 times out of 10 fouled commercial fishing boats of any size won't want to go to dry dock or shut down generators. They just want to get back to sea. So it's either take the job and trust the skipper to watch everything top side or stay at home.

 

[Tracy]

9 times out of 10 fouled commercial fishing boats of any size won't want to go to dry dock or shut down generators. They just want to get back to sea. So it's either take the job and trust the skipper to watch everything top side or stay at home.

And I stay home. They can always find somebody else. Not my problem.

 

[Cthippo]

Thank you all for indulging my curiosity!

 

[fstbttms]

U/W Stray high voltage in marina's is a bigger problem for hull cleaners.

Umm... not really. In freshwater it's a risk. In saltwater, not so much. In fact, not really at all.