Fire/ explosion
Fire on board ships is one of the most dangerous situations for its crew; because it can rapidly easily escalate to fatal consequences.
There are different situations of fire on board a ship:
- Fire in the engine room
- Fire in the cargo
- Fire in the accommodation/superstructure
Engine room fire
Two thirds of shipboard fires start in the engine room.
Every ship has a fixed fire fighting installation to extinguish fires in the engine room and other machinery spaces. Even when those fires are extinguished the engine room will be out of use for several hours, because the reintroduction of oxygen into an hot engine room could easily reignite the fire. Thus the ship is adrift even during the cooling-off period.
Fire onboard the ship is always one of the most dangerous situations that can occur. Fire in the engine room will most likely include oil, which will rapidly increase in temperature and spread making rapid response essential. Fortunately, installations, which quench fires with carbon dioxide, are available.
One advantage is that there are very good means of extinguishing a fire in the engine room, such as a CO2 installation.
Cargo fire
The risks of a cargo fire depend mostly on the type of cargo, as does the risk to the health of the crew. Most chemical tankers have a foam extinguishing system on the upper deck to fight the fires. However, risks are very high and depending on the type of cargo this can be dangerous for the health of the crew.
If the fire cannot be extinguished, the decision to abandon ship is often made, at which point the fire will likely to spread to other cargo making it even less controllable and more likely to release both oil and cargo through progressive damage to the ship itself.
