It is quite common to hear that a man pumps gas in wrong hole in boat, car or trucks, inexperience is the main cause of these incidents that could be life threatening if not detected in time. Boats carry higher risk since substantial quantities of fuel could be pumped in to the boats hull without the boat owner even realizing. Besides to the grave danger it puts of the boaters themselves the fuel poses a danger of causing pollution during the clean up time.

Many boats have ready built drain plugs on the side usually used to drain any water that may have found its way in to the hull. These drains can easily be used to drain the fuel but it’s not as easy as it sounds. Most boat fuel is highly combustible rising the risk during accidental removal of gas put in the wrong hole. This problem not only persists in the marine industry but is also common in the automobile industry were inexperienced people usually put wrong fuel lubricants or cooling fluid in the wrong hole. Many incidents of attendants putting engine oil being put into the radiator cooling system or water in to the oil filling hole have been recorded.

On boats the danger is the same but even higher when it involves fuels being put in the wrong hole. A small boat hull could carry up wards of 100 gallons and more. Of not realized early the boat could slowly sink under the excess weight and polluted the marine ecosystem in the vicinity.

This is a common incident since small boats have several holes on the upper deck which could be easy be mistaken by an inexperience attendant or boat owner for the fuel tank hole. These holes are usually used to put in fishing roles or canvas poles that shade the passengers inside from rain of the hot sun.

Sadly these holes are also well trimmed and capped to avoid any unwanted water from seeping in to the hull, making them resemble a fuel tank holes on automobiles. This creates the perfect recipe for disaster and many fuelling attendants make this mistake without even realizing that the fuel is dangerously exposed to the elements and could ignite and explode causing major disaster. Even after the accidental wrong hole fuelling incident has been detected the story doesn’t end there the fuel must be drained and disposed of safely. Although drain cocks are present it is illegal to drain harmful materials in to the water and the fire department must be called in to make the necessary arrangements to drain the fuel safely.

Due to the increased incidents of these incidents happening awareness has been raised to create awareness concerning this ever growing concern and boat manufacturers are being advised to make clearer marking that show were fuels are to be loaded. Having clear markers could be one measure that reduces the incidents but having well trained boat fuelling attendants is the most important factor. Boat owners should also gain basic knowledge of their boats and try to be at the fuelling port whenever fueling to avoid the know common incident of a man pumps gas in wrong hole in boat that pop up ever more often.