Fires Remain Biggest Safety Issue for Shipping

Fires remain the biggest safety issue for the shipping sector, an industry consultant told Breakbulk, with the recent blaze that destroyed the Felicity Ace car carrier off the coast of Portugal underlining the risk to large vessels.

Although total shipping losses have halved over the last decade from 98 in 2011 to 49 at the end of 2020, fires on board large vessels are rising, with a record 40 cargo-related fire incidents in 2019, or one every 10 days, according to analysis from Germany-based insurer Allianz.

Total losses due to fire hit a four-year high of 10 in 2020, accounting for about one in five write-offs. Captain Rahul Khanna, Allianz’s global head of marine risk consulting, said roll-on, roll-off vessels including car carriers were at particular risk.

“To facilitate carriage of automobiles the internal spaces are not divided into separate sections like other cargo ships,” Khanna said. “The lack of internal bulkheads can have an adverse impact on fire safety and a small fire on one vehicle or battery can grow out of control very quickly. Vehicles are not easily accessible once loading has been completed.”

The large volume of air swirling around open cargo decks could also hamper firefighting efforts, the consultant added, pointing to the fire that swept through the Felicity Ace in mid-February that took more than a week to extinguish.

The Panama-registered vessel operated by Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines had been sailing from Germany to the US carrying nearly 4,000 luxury vehicles for Volkswagen Group when a fire ignited in its hold, quickly engulfing the entire ship.

All 22 crew members were evacuated from the ship and taken ashore to the nearest island.

Efforts to recover the burnt-out carrier and what remained of its costly cargo ended in vain on 1 March after it lost stability and sank some 220 nautical miles off the Azores. The ship, with its capacity of 6,400 car equivalent units, or CEUs, had suffered a list to starboard while being towed to safety by salvage crafts, Mitsui said.

For Khanna, the ever-increasing size of vessels combined with lower crew numbers have diminished onboard firefighting capabilities.

“In many cases crews are unable to carry out firefighting on small fires simply because they are either unable to reach the location of the fire or do not have sufficient means to extinguish them,” Khanna said.

“Looking for the base of a fire in a stack of 20,000 containers is a very difficult task.”

RoRo and vehicle carriers could reduce risk by improving cargo securing and weather routing after accident investigations had shown inadequate pre-sail away stability checks and lashing of cargo, the consultant said.

Khanna said Allianz and other insurers have long warned of the risks of fires, and were pressing for improved ship design and firefighting equipment while stressing the importance of correct declaration, handling and storage of cargo.

“Owners need to consider the enhanced fire risks of these vessels in the design process and incorporate fire prevention and mitigation features at a very early stage.”

IMAGES
TOP: The Felicity Ace suffers a list to starboard after a devastating fire. CREDIT: marinha.pt
SECOND: The Felicity Ace watched by salvage teams. CREDIT: marina.pt