Standard Club recently released the “Fire Safety on Ferries” guide, in an effort to promote best practices and raise awareness around fire incidents onboard ferries.
In fact, Captain Yves Vandenborn, Director of Loss Prevention at Standard Club, explains that a fire accident is one of the most frightening things that can happen at sea.
In light of the situation, this guide has been written to raise awareness of the likely fire risks on ferries, to improve crew knowledge of fire safety and to discuss lessons learnt from accident investigation.
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As noted, ferries have particular risks from the cargo they carry – cars, lorries and refrigerated containers all contain combustible material and have their own fire hazards which a ship’s crew cannot easily control.
Even though great attention is paid to fire safety during ferry design and construction, fires can and do occur and when they do, they can spread very quickly.
It is therefore vitally important that ships’ crews react quickly to the early signs of any fire and use all available equipment and methodologies in the most efficient and effective way.
To do this, ships’ crews need to have a thorough understanding of the use and limitations of the fire detection/ extinguishing equipment available to them as well as a good knowledge of how these should be used.
Basic advice
The heat and products of combustion liberated by fire are harmful to life and are capable of causing severe damage to a ship. The areas on ferries that have greatest fire risk are the ones that contain materials that readily ignite and burn, or that have sufficient energy to result in serious fire.
In many cases, these areas also contain viable source(s) of ignition, which means a fire could occur unless appropriate precautions are taken to prevent it.
According to Captain Yves Vandenborn, there are numerous causes of fire, but the most relevant to ferries are:
- Electrical defects, such as overloaded electrical equipment, damaged cables and poorly formed connections. Electrical faults in vehicles, especially when engines are hot/running. Reefer containers are major sources of fire.
- Mechanical failure, such as ignition from overheated bearings or a catastrophic engine failure.
- Uncontrolled release of oil or flammable liquid coming into contact with a hot surface, or the release of a low flashpoint fuel, such as petrol vapour, coming into contact with a source of ignition.
- Dry, readily combustible materials (such as wood, paper, textiles) coming into contact with an ignition source, such as a lighted cigarette, sparks or conducted heat from burning or cutting, highintensity lights or defective electrical equipment.
A ship’s crew can assess fire risk from the ship’s systems and equipment, and take action, but they cannot easily assess fire risk from vehicles. Vehicles
have the same or greater fire risk as the ship itself. They contain fuel, cellulosic material and plastics.
Faults with their electrical systems, as case studies show, are a major source of ignition. During a fire patrol, pay special attention to vehicles with operating fans (after loading), those with a large volume of cellulosic material and any smelling of fuel. Report these to the safety officer.
Explore Standard Club Fire Safety Guide here
