A call for improved measures to fight fires on containerships is being made by the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI).
IUMI is concerned that vessels, cargoes and crews are at risk as current measures to respond to fires are inadequate.
“Every ineffective attempt to put out a major fire increases the damage to the cargo, the vessel and the environment,” IUMI warns in a new position paper.
“With the growing size of container vessels, the challenge of insufficient firefighting arrangements is becoming even greater,” it said.
There is also serious concern about the risks that seafarers face in trying to fight boxship fires, with IUMI noting there have been instances of loss of life.
“In remote locations and on the open sea, it can often be hours or even days after a fire has broken out before external assistance arrives. As a rule, only seagoing tugs carry the necessary equipment for effective firefighting. Until they arrive, the crew has to rely on its own resources and the fire can spread extensively,” the report continued.
IUMI says fires on boxships are among the worst of hazards, noting that detection systems are inefficient and the use of carbon dioxide is not effective as containers are closed and vessels have no natural fire compartments.
Sprinklers and water-based firefighting systems are needed to deal with containers that are already burning and to limit the spread of fires, according to IUMI.
IUMI notes that firefighting systems should cool cargo and vessel structures, including hold walls, bulkheads, tank and other decks, and hatch covers.
Underwriters are calling for further efforts to improve fire detection, protection and response capabilities on boxships. They are concerned that additional requirements for new ships brought in as an update to the Safety of Life at Sea (Solas) convention from the start of last year do not go far enough.
IUMI says that Solas' requirements were originally developed for general cargo vessels but containerships present a different challenge, including the risk of misdeclared cargoes.
IUMI cites the constructive total loss of vessels and fatalities on ships, such as the 6,732-teu MSC Flaminia (built 2001), 5,551-teu Hyundai Fortune (built 1996) and 4,000-teu Hanjin Pennsylvania (built 2002), to illustrate the dangers that fires pose to boxships.
Earlier this year, there were fires on the 13,800-teu MSC Daniela (built 2008) and the 6,350-teu APL Austria (built 2007). A misdeclared cargo of calcium hypochlorite was suspected of being responsible for the blaze on the APL Austria.
IUMI endorses the work of German insurance association GDV (Gesamtverband der Deutschen Versicherungswirtschaf) on improving the survivability of containerships.
This includes separating vessels horizontally and vertically into fire compartments, with water-based firefighting systems able to supply at least three compartments simultaneously.
Bilge pumps must also be sufficiently powerful to ensure the stability of vessels is not compromised by water introduced into the holds, GDV says.
GDV appears to favour infrared or similar thermal detectors over smoke alarms but notes they must not trigger false alarms from temperature fluctuations in refrigerated containers.
