Explosion of a inflatable Boat
The boat was a 6.5 m semi-rigid electric-powered inflatable canoe, mainly used for greeting and directing pleasure boaters in harbour.It exploded without a flame shortly when an employee of the harbour master's office turned on the ignition after unplugging the batteries. The back of the boat was projected into the air, together with the employee, which was hospitalised. The boat was completely destroyed. Purchased three months before, this boat was one of the three pre-series prototype boats in service in marinas. The responsible authorities were alerted and the use of these canoes was suspended. According to the ARIA report (see references), the manufacturer and an independent third party performed expert assessments before the divers re-floated the canoe. Apparently, the reason of the explosion was the hydrogen emitted from the dry batteries of the vessel, which had been tested the day before. Because of the difficulty of charging these batteries, it had been decided to leave them connected to an electrical outlet overnight.
Event Date
July 24, 2012
Record Quality Indicator
Region / Country
Event Initiating System
Classification of the Physical Effects
Nature of the Consequences
Cause Comments
Immediate cause was apparently the production of a dry battery system remained under charge the whole night.Contributing or root cause may be related to the prototype character of the boat, which had been put in operation without the due safe testing phase.
Facility Information
Application Type
Application
Specific Application Supply Chain Stage
Components Involved
inflatable boat, battery system
Storage/Process Medium
Location Type
Location description
Unknown
Pre-event Summary
The boar was one of three prototype boats, already operating in harbor.The evening before, it had been decided to keep the battery system of the boat plugged to the grid, because of a difficult charging process.
Currency
Lessons Learned
Lessons Learned
It is well known that certain type of batteries can emit hydrogen under operative and/or anomalous conditions. The fact that the battery system of the boat was reported 'difficult to load' may indicate a battery malfunctioning, or a wrong charging operation. In any case, the fact that the boat was one of three prototype seems to indicate that the testing phase BEFORE starting service in the harbour had not been adequate to identify all the risks.
Event Nature
Emergency Action
Unknown
Release Type
Release Substance
Ignition Source
Detonation
No
Deflagration
No
High Pressure Explosion
No
High Voltage Explosion
No
Source Category
References
References
Event description in the French database ARIA
https://www.aria.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/accident/42474/
(accessed September 2020)