The Royal Association of Netherlands Ship Owners (KVNR) has drawn our attention to the following information:

On the morning of 22 March 2024, a fatal accident occurred on board the Dutch cruise ship Nieuw Amsterdam when it was calling at Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas. In an area of the engine room, an expansion joint in the main steam pipe ruptured. Through the resulting hole in the steam system, the room quickly filled up with steam at a temperature exceeding 100 °C. The steam was released on the port side, while two crew members were working in the same room on the starboard side. Because the vessel was not alongside the quay, the watertight doors at the forward and aft of this room were closed in accordance with protocol. Due to the speed with which the room filled up with the hot steam, the two crew members could no longer reach the doors and the emergency exit and lost their lives

The Dutch Safety Board made the following Recommendation to the Royal Association of Netherlands Shipowners (KVNR)

“To ensure that other shipping companies can also learn from this incident, we recommend the following to the KVNR: Draw attention to the need to avoid the use of structural workarounds in steam systems among your members and international contacts.”

Please find attached the Dutch Safety Board Report at Annex A .