Safety Awareness Dispatch
SA 26-09 Shipboard Flooding
Whether working on vessels with a load displacement of 100,000 tons or a few hundred, the last thing anyone would want is for that vessel to start filling up with water. We have so many ways to fight shipboard flooding with so many installed contingencies we can forget how damning it is for water to start flowing into hollow chunks of steel above mile-deep seas. That’s why we must remain vigilant and ensure our personnel are trained and ready to prevent and combat flooding at any time. In addition to the threat of sinking, shipboard flooding contributes to mold buildup and damages structural integrity and ship stability. It can result in loss of services, operational capabilities, and, worst-case scenario, death. Being able to identify causal factors is essential but being able to identify how to fight shipboard flooding properly and mitigate risk is paramount.
| Published: | June 2, 2026 |
The Safety Awareness team creates concise, readable (and sometimes funny) safety lessons to help Sailors, Marines and civilian employees (and their families) avoid repeating a mishap. Our goal is to make people think! We do our best to tell a story that people will remember – that they’ll recall when going through their normal day – that empowers them to identify hazards, accept “ownership” and responsibility for those hazards (in their community, command, and home), and take action.
