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Displaying items by tag: Product Recall

The Department of Transport has been made aware of a Safety Recall Notice for AWG fire hose nozzles by the EU Commission’s Safety Gate rapid alert system.

The affected nozzles are type HS 10, HS 12, HS 16 and HS 20, country of origin Germany, marked with batch number “EN15182-1/3 2015” on the nozzle cap and “55” marked inside the orange tube.

They were most likely supplied during weeks 24 to 37 in
2015.

According to the EU notice, the product is defective and does not comply with the requirements of the Marine Equipment Directive or with the European Standard EN 15182- 1.

The notice adds that the nozzle is not robust enough to withstand working pressure of 16 bar and may burst. As a result, the user may be injured due to bursting or suffer burns when extinguishing a fire.

For more details on the safety recall, see Marine Notice No 81 of 2023 attached below.

Published in Safety

The Department of Transport advises that the manufacturer Paroc Group Oy, a subsidiary of Owens Corning, has issued a product safety recall for certain forms of deck and bulkhead insulation that it produces.

This recall follows independent testing where it was found that the products failed to meet the requirements for the respective Marine Equipment Directive 2014/90/EU (MED) fire integrity tests.

It is understood that the supply of these products in newbuild ships in Ireland has been limited but it is possible that it may have been installed by third-party suppliers for repair and modification purposes.

If you have non-installed stock of Paroc Marine’s Navis Mat, Navis Slab and Navis Wired Mat insulation products, as detailed in Marine Notice No 72 of 2023 attached below, please inform Paroc as soon as possible.

If any such product is installed on board a vessel, the supplier should be contacted and a remedial action plan agreed with the Marine Survey Office as a matter of urgency.

Any queries in relation to this Marine Notice should be addressed to [email protected].

Published in News Update

The UK’s Office for Product Safety & Standards have announced the recall of a popular lifejacket over safety concerns.

The product, which was sold via Amazon as Life Jacket 150N, has been identified as presenting a serious risk of drowning to the user if relied upon as protection in the water.

Amazon has since removed the product listing from its online marketplace and the OPSS is requiring the recall of the product from end users.

Owners of the above product are advised to visit the Product Safety Alerts, Reports and Recalls page on the GOV.UK website for further information and next steps.

Published in Water Safety

The UK’s Office for Product Safety and Standards has announced a product recall for 11 models of lifejackets sold via online retailer Amazon over safety concerns.

Officials confirm that the affected products were not supplied with the required compliance documentation or markings to demonstrate that they have been adequately conformity assessed.

The models of lifejackets purchased by users via Amazon are those with the following brand names: NILIPEI, FLOATTOP, LIXONG, ROSOAMY, GRELANT, AJING, ZENING, STECTO, OMOUBOI, WELLPATH and Rrtizan.

The products do not meet the requirements of the PPE Regulation 2016/425 and as such, the Office for Product Safety and Standard recommend that owners stop using these products immediately. Owners are also recommended to contact the distributor to request redress.

For further information and product details, visit the GOV.UK website.

Published in Water Safety

#Recall - The UK's Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has issued a recall notice for certain models of Safetmade hydrostatic release units (HRUs).

While these HRUs have been approved as having a service life of three years, investigations have shown that some units suffered water ingress, causing corrosion leading to their malfunction under normal conditions.

The affected models are the Safetmade LR-1 and EP-1, and owners are advised to return any such units to their nearest service station or port where they can be exchanged for an equivalent HRU up till 1 September 2016.

The MCA's Safety Bulletin No 6 of 2016 has more HERE.

Published in Water Safety

Ferry & Car Ferry News The ferry industry on the Irish Sea, is just like any other sector of the shipping industry, in that it is made up of a myriad of ship operators, owners, managers, charterers all contributing to providing a network of routes carried out by a variety of ships designed for different albeit similar purposes.

All this ferry activity involves conventional ferry tonnage, 'ro-pax', where the vessel's primary design is to carry more freight capacity rather than passengers. This is in some cases though, is in complete variance to the fast ferry craft where they carry many more passengers and charging a premium.

In reporting the ferry scene, we examine the constantly changing trends of this sector, as rival ferry operators are competing in an intensive environment, battling out for market share following the fallout of the economic crisis. All this has consequences some immediately felt, while at times, the effects can be drawn out over time, leading to the expense of others, through reduced competition or takeover or even face complete removal from the marketplace, as witnessed in recent years.

Arising from these challenging times, there are of course winners and losers, as exemplified in the trend to run high-speed ferry craft only during the peak-season summer months and on shorter distance routes. In addition, where fastcraft had once dominated the ferry scene, during the heady days from the mid-90's onwards, they have been replaced by recent newcomers in the form of the 'fast ferry' and with increased levels of luxury, yet seeming to form as a cost-effective alternative.

Irish Sea Ferry Routes

Irrespective of the type of vessel deployed on Irish Sea routes (between 2-9 hours), it is the ferry companies that keep the wheels of industry moving as freight vehicles literally (roll-on and roll-off) ships coupled with motoring tourists and the humble 'foot' passenger transported 363 days a year.

As such the exclusive freight-only operators provide important trading routes between Ireland and the UK, where the freight haulage customer is 'king' to generating year-round revenue to the ferry operator. However, custom built tonnage entering service in recent years has exceeded the level of capacity of the Irish Sea in certain quarters of the freight market.

A prime example of the necessity for trade in which we consumers often expect daily, though arguably question how it reached our shores, is the delivery of just in time perishable products to fill our supermarket shelves.

A visual manifestation of this is the arrival every morning and evening into our main ports, where a combination of ferries, ro-pax vessels and fast-craft all descend at the same time. In essence this a marine version to our road-based rush hour traffic going in and out along the commuter belts.

Across the Celtic Sea, the ferry scene coverage is also about those overnight direct ferry routes from Ireland connecting the north-western French ports in Brittany and Normandy.

Due to the seasonality of these routes to Europe, the ferry scene may be in the majority running between February to November, however by no means does this lessen operator competition.

Noting there have been plans over the years to run a direct Irish –Iberian ferry service, which would open up existing and develop new freight markets. Should a direct service open, it would bring new opportunities also for holidaymakers, where Spain is the most visited country in the EU visited by Irish holidaymakers ... heading for the sun!