Safety warning after a catastrophic failure of capacitor and explosion in 11kV harmonic filter

This document is for operators of vessels with electric propulsion which have large capacitors in harmonic filters.

Safety Bulletin 4/2010

SB4-10.pdf (1,888.20 kb)

Summary

On the 23 September 2010 the passenger cruise vessel RMS Queen Mary was approaching Barcelona, Spain. The vessel suffered the catastrophic failure of a capacitor and explosion in an 11 kV harmonic filter. MAIB issued this safety bulletin to highlight the safety concerns and to make recommendations to operators of vessels with electric propulsion which have large capacitors in harmonic filters.

Published: 3 December 2010

Published 23 January 2015