OFFICIAL REPORT IDENTIFIES COCONUT CHARCOAL AS LIKELY CAUSE OF THE FIRE ON THE YANTIAN EXPRESS
The Federal Bureau of Maritime Casualty Investigation (BSU) has published its investigation report about the causes of the fire in the area of the deck cargo on board the container ship Yantian Express, identifying coconut charcoal as the likely cause of the fire.
It was during the early morning hours of 3 January 2019 that fire broke out in the deck cargo in the area of cargo hold 2 on board the German flagged container ship Yantian Express. The ship was in the North Atlantic, due to reach Halifax, Canadathe following day.
Despite the action taken by Smit Nicobar, the fire spread further into the deck area of cargo hold 1. Due to the overall deteriorating situation the Yantian Express’s crew left the ship and transferred to a tug.
On 7 January 2019, the Maersk Mobiliser reached the scene and took over the firefighting operations. Given that the extent onboard the burning ship seemed safer than on 9 January 2019, five crewmembers returned to the vessel voluntarily.
On 25 January 2019, the shipping company declared the general average in connection with the fire on board the vessel. The Federal Bureau of Maritime Casualty Investigation started its investigation on board after the ship had arrived.
On 30 January 2019, tug and tow reached the anchorage of the port of refuge in Freeport, Bahamas. Several days later, the ship was allowed to sail into the port. On 19 February 2019, the unloading the containers in the area of cargo holds 1 and 2 started.
The BSU stresses that one of the containers was laden with coconut charcoal, which had been erroneously declared as coconut pellets.
Read the full 73 page pdf report:
https://bit.ly/2T8GzXy
MARITIME NZ ISSUES A SAFETY UPDATE ON THE RISKS OF FIXED GAS FIRE EXTINGUISHING SYSTEMS ON VESSELS
Maritime NZ has produced a safety update to advise of the potential problems and risks that can occur from fixed gas fire extinguishing systems on vessels, focusing on CO2 systems. A fixed gas fire-extinguishing system is a gaseous substance (often CO2) in a cylinder separate from, but connected to, a protected space and is used to fight a fire. Commonly fixed systems are installed for engine rooms and pump rooms. After air vents are closed and the area sealed, the gas is released in bulk quantity to flood the protected space and smother the fire.
There are many challenges occurring from these fire extinguishing systems, one of which is when the air is not tight. The system will be ineffective if the protected space is not fully closed down.
Another safety risk is the unknown structural design issues that could arise, meaning any changes to the vessel, such as new wiring, pipes and cabinets, which may impact the effectiveness of fire suppression by inadvertently creating new air pathways.
Concluding, people can be severely threatened from high concentrations of CO2, keeping in mind that accidental release of CO2 may lead to death, as it happened back in May 2019, when a carbon dioxide leak that occurred on a cargo ship at the Longyan port in Weihai, China, resulting to 10 people loosing their lives and 19 injured.
So, to prevent any of the dangers and concerns expressed above, Maritime NZ presents actions to be taken to ensure safety.
Read the Maritime NZ safety briefing in full at
https://bit.ly/318n8l9
The Report • March 2020 • Issue 91 | 15
Safety Briefings
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