As part of their series, American P&I has published an animation video which highlights, that in a event of an engine room fire, preparedness of the vessel’s crew is a critical element to its mitigation.
According to the video, in good weather, a large vessel is underway. During this time the third Engineer is on watch in the engine control room. Two engineers are also in the engine room, performing maintenance on a saltwater pump. Suddenly, a loud bang is heard by the Third Engineer. This is followed by several alarms for the auxiliary generator, including the low lube oil pressure alarm.
Several seconds later the fire alarm goes off. Then the phone rings. It’s the bridge calling to find out what’s happening. The Third Engineer then starts to see smoke in the engine room.
In the engine room, the Chief Engineer and the Third Engineer exited the engine control room to investigate the source and extent of the fire. They realised that the auxiliary generator had failed catastrophically. The fire is growing in the engine room. The Chief Engineer called the captain and recommends they shut down the main engine and secure the engine room. The Captain agrees.
With everyone accounted for they, then activated the remote oil shut-offs and verified that all of the doors to the engine room are closed, as well as all the engine room vent covers not forgetting those on the funnel, as practiced during drills.
As explained, CO2 from fixed CO2 system was released into the engine room. They monitored the engine room bulkhead temperature and could tell that the temperature was dropping.
As soon as they were confident that the fire was out, two members of the emergency response team entered the engine room wearing breathing apparatus to verify that the fire was extinguished.
Due to the quick and effective action of the crew the damage was limited to the auxiliary generator.
