The Coast Guard has issued safety alert 16-16 to remind mariners of the potential dangers that can occur when alarm systems are deliberately ignored. Recently in the Pacific Northwest, Coast Guard marine inspectors experienced two different circumstances involving the alarm and control system of steering gears onboard relatively new Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' vessels. Although neither event resulted in a marine casualty, they serve as a reminder to the potentially dangerous results that may occur when an alarm system is deliberately ignored. A false sense of operational safety develops when crewmembers continually silence what they consider to be a "nuisance alarm," which enables a false perception of normalcy to develop.
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