What Can The Ship Do? Tackling Fires On Board Container Ships

This article summarises key points from a webinar discussing firefighting capabilities and challenges on container ships. The webinar featured presentations from maritime experts Nick Haslam and John Gao, followed by a Q&A session.

 

Comparing Firefighting On Land and At Sea

Firefighter John Gao highlighted major differences between land-based and ship-based firefighting:

• Firefighter training is far more extensive on land - 12 weeks initially versus 2.5 days at sea.
• Land-based firefighters have better protective equipment and breathing apparatus with longer durations.
• Buildings have more fire-resistant compartments and easier access than ships.
• Land-based firefighters have faster backup, while ships may wait hours or days.
• A typical high-rise response would have 20 firefighters, comparable to 23 crew on a ship. But the ship's crew has far less training and experience.
• Ships require improvising with available equipment and tricky access situations.

 

Firefighting Equipment and Training on Ships

 

• STCW requires basic and advanced courses in firefighting for seafarers, but the training is very limited compared to land-based firefighters.
• Ships must have fire hoses, mobile water monitors (MWMs), breathing apparatus, and more. However, equipment can be difficult to maneuver around enormous modern container ships.
• MWMs weigh 20+ kg and may need to be hauled up 5+ decks, competing for limited breathing apparatus air.

 

Challenges of Container Ship Fires

 

• Fires often spread rapidly before detection, escalating beyond basic firefighting training and equipment.
• Most containers are not classified as dangerous but still contain plastics and chemicals that can react explosively and release toxic gases.
• Delayed CO2 release into cargo holds allows fires to grow too large to be suppressed. CO2 effectiveness is also limited by non-gas-tight hatch covers.
• Boundary cooling can help control fires but manual interior firefighting is extremely dangerous and difficult.

 

Potential Improvements in Fighting Container Ship Fires

 

• Earlier fire detection and suppression would make a major difference.
• Additional firefighting equipment like fixed water monitors can help, though cost is a factor.
• Better compartmentalisation and sealing of cargo holds supports CO2 effectiveness.
• Enhanced crew training focused on likely container ship fires could improve outcomes.

 

Key Takeaways

 

• Container ship crews face unique firefighting challenges for which basic regulatory requirements may be inadequate.
• A combination of earlier detection, better equipment/training, and improved ship design is needed.
• More research on successful container ship firefighting could help identify best practices to apply more broadly.