DATE: 043 - 1113
LOCATION: Reth/Lanth/Spinward Marches
VESSEL: Commissioner Kluutzak, a Type-R2 subsidized trader
PROXIMATE CAUSES(S): Bad valve line-up
ROOT CAUSES(S): Poor training, poor supervision, poor communications
DESCRIPTION: During a maintenance stand-down, a relief crew aboard Kluutzak pumped nearly 2 kiloliters of concentrated sewage across her berth and onto a ship berthed nearby; Old Grey Mare, a Beowulf-class free trader, causing significant damage.
Commissioner Kluutzak is operated by the government of Rech. Built with jump2 drives, the vessel and her three sister ships provide weekly service between Rech and the Imperial X-boat link at Dinomn. Crews are contracted to fly the vessels for periods of one standard year. A newly contracted crew normally takes over operation of a vessel during one of four maintenance stand-downs during a standard year. A new crew reported aboard Kluutzak on 042-1113.
Portions of the vessel's waste handling systems had failed in operation during the preceding 51 days. That equipment, especially the systems used to inject waste into jump space and the maneuver drive thrust chamber, had been secured from use. A decision was made to hold off on repair to the systems until the coming scheduled maintenance period. With the equipment secured, the vessel instead stored and treated all collected waste before discharging it in port.
The vessel arrived at Rech Downport on 040-1113, discharged passengers and cargo, and was moved to the port's maintenance facility the next day. The newly contracted crew reported aboard on 042-1113 just as preparations of the maintenance period began.
On 042-1113, a facilities worker connected Kluutzak to the port's sewage collection header via her starboard overboard discharge valve. The connection location was communicated to the ship and logged by the duty bridge watch.
At 08:11 on 043-1113, Kluutzak asked for permission to pump all collected waste overboard. Permission by the port was withheld until confirmation of the connection. Port personnel confirmed the connection to the starboard overboard discharge valve at 08:17 and permission to pump waste overboard was granted to the vessel at 08:23. Aboard the vessel, engineering personnel aboard the vessel asked for confirmation of the connection at 09:01. The duty bridge watch verified the connection and then improperly informed engineering that the connection had been made to the port overboard discharge valve. Engineering personnel aboard the vessel completed their preparations and pumping commenced at 09:11.
Sewage from the vessel's onboard storage tank sprayed from of the port discharge valve out to a distance of 40 meters. The spray pattern was also nearly 40 meters in width. The sewage in question was a mixture of both liquids and macerated solids. While the sewage is stored aboard as a nearly water-free concentrate, water is added in the discharge process to assist in pumping. This practice substantially aided the spread of the sewage during the incident.
The sewage discharge was noticed by port workers in and around the vessel's berth immediately. Although Kluutzak was quickly informed of the incident, stopping the discharge took time. By the time the discharge was secured at 09:16, nearly 2 kiloliters of sewage had been spilled. A large portion of the vessel's berth was fouled by the spill and several pieces of port equipment were damaged. A 'Beowulf'-class free trader undergoing repairs in a neighboring berth was also damaged.
That vessel, Old Grey Mare, had numerous parts of its hull opened and internal systems exposed for repairs. The vessel's dorsal turret had also been removed leaving the turret socket exposed. Sewage was able to enter the vessel by these openings, especially via the turret socket.
The port HAZMAT team was called away at 09:33 and arrived at 09:36. All work around and in the two vessels was immediately suspended. Clean-up and decontamination of Kluutzak and her berth was completed by 20:00 on 044. Clean-up and decontamination of the neighboring berth holding Old Grey Mare was completed by the same time. The clean-up and decontamination of Old Grey Mare herself took far more time, not concluding until 055 - 1113. Repairs to the vessel took even longer.
Sewage had entered her hull in several locations and compromised the systems there. On her starboard side, the personnel airlock, the cargo airlock, fuel scoops, several atitiude thrusters, and part of the AEMS array were all damaged. More importantly, the exposed dorsal turret socket allowed a large amount of sewage to enter and compromise many other internal systems. Old Grey Mare was not cleared for flight until 083 - 1113.
As owner-operator of Commissioner Kluutzak, the government of Rech was billed by the SPA for all costs stemming from the sewage spill. Rech is currently appealing those charges.
(Note: I saw something like this happen. It in '83 at Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico and involved an SSN and an old Garcia class FF. The sub was moored across the pier from the frigate and my cruiser was moored on the same pier much further down. We'd just stepped off a bus and were returning to our ship for lunch when we were stopped by some frantic shouting from the frigate's quarterdeck. The 'sewage fountain' from the sub was nearly stopped, just a final gurgling 'blurp' or two pulsed out of her discharge valve fouling the water between her hull and the pier.
It seems the SSN crew had hooked up to the pier's sewage header and then forgot which hull valve they'd tied into. D'oh! They'd then lined up their CHT (chemical holding tank, aka sewage) system to the wrong valve, pressurized the tank with god knows how much PSI (subs use compressed air a lot as pumps make noise), and blown oodles of sh*t and p*ss all over the pier and the frigate. It had taken the sub's quarterdeck a few minutes to get ahold of the engineroom and tell them to stop the blow. During that time, the sub had sprayed sewage like an angled geyser of sorts.
There was a sewage trail of sorts across the pier linking the sub to the frigate. You could pick your way up the pier, watching where you stepped, and hop across the big patches. The pier side of the frigate was another matter though. The hull, the weatherdeck, and a couple of the O levels (decks above the main deck) were smeared with the stuff. It looked awful and smelled even worse.
We laughed all the way back to the ship, ate lunch, and then left on liberty again. The pier had been hosed down by this time, but the real show was on the frigate. A large number of the SUB crew was onboard the frigate with mops, buckets, rags, squeegees, sponges, etc. scrubbing away with lots of soapy water. There were even a couple in scaffolding working on the hull. Lots of khakis (officers and chiefs) from the frigate, sub, and base were milling around and 'supervising'. It was hysterical. I even heard the frigate even got a new partial paint job courtesy of the sub's crew. It was so nice to see some poor 'surface pukes' get one over on the oh-so arrogant Silent Service for once!)
