TSB investigator warns of dangers of brittle grade-A steel

摘要

An investigator in Canada says a problem with poor fracture resistance in some grade-A steel could be a cause of some bulk-carrier casualties. Ships operating in cold waters can be subject to brittle fractures that can spread quickly from a few inches to over 20 feet. This kind of crack nearly sunk the bulk carrier Lake Carling on March 19, 2002, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. That vessel developed a 21.5-foot-long hull fracture that could have originated in a crack as small as 4 inches, according to the report by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB).