Marine fires

Need for an independent view

Dr Andrew M Collins, (left) MChem, PhD Associate and Lee Masson, (right) MSc, CEng, Director at Zetetech Forensic Investigators, explain the critical role of forensic investigation following a fire or explosion on board a vessel

The event of a fire or explosion onboard a vessel, even when relatively minor, can often lead to significant negative impact on a number of affiliated parties. Whether from the time lost while maintenance and repair is carried out, or the physical damage sustained by the vessel or cargo, the impact is usually substantial.

What happened, what should have happened, and what should not have happened are key questions that will be forefront. The answers will often guide insurers and legal representatives in any potential recovery matters. These include what actions, if any, should be pursued against those responsible, and whether the matter falls under criminal or civil proceedings.

The appointment of a forensic investigator can help to answer such questions, and also provide a better understanding of the circumstances surrounding the incident, including how it was managed. Following on from that, lessons can thus be applied to future operating procedures to minimise the chances of the event recurring.

In addition, when legal action is being brought onto a party, the appointment of a forensic investigator by that party can provide an unbiased, neutral opinion of the case to guide insurers and legal counsel as to how best to proceed in the matter.

SCIENTIFIC METHOD

Investigators use a rigorous set of proven techniques employing the ‘Scientific Method’ in order to gather their information and develop hypotheses.

Maritime fires are often complex because of the involvement of an array of different parties ranging from vessel owners and charterers to consignees and passengers. Furthermore, the level of damage sustained in a single incident can often be comparably much higher for maritime cases than those on land.

A thorough investigation will not only focus on the causative event, but also examine the circumstances leading up to the event, and the activities that followed it. Such topics often include operating procedures, detailed population of a narrative timeline, detail of how the fire spread, and any contributing factors that permitted the fire to spread more rapidly than would otherwise have been expected.

Such enquiries will also determine whether any automatic firefighting equipment that may have been present functioned appropriately, any firefighting measures which were undertaken by the crew and whether those methods were adequate and in line with standard operating procedure and training.

An experienced marine investigator is always alive to the possibility of unseaworthiness or stowage related issues, the physical evidence of which, collected at the scene, can have a significant bearing as marine claims progress.

Timely inspection is essential to ensure the scene is preserved and crucial evidence is not lost or cleared away. Prompt arrival also ensures that details of the incident are still relatively fresh in the minds of witnesses. In this regard, recollections from eyewitnesses and pertinent persons are often more reliable when conducted sooner, rather than later.

Furthermore, in most cases the loss of evidence from a scene is often the result of well-intentioned clearing of an area. But there are some circumstances where parties may attempt to deliberately alter or remove evidence. Early scene inspection serves to limit the opportunity for this to take place.

“Maritime fires are often complex because of the involvement of an array of different parties ranging from vessel owners and charterers to consignees and passengers. Furthermore, the level of damage sustained in a single incident can often be comparably much higher for maritime cases than those on land.’’

DATA COLLECTION

Data collected from any forensic scene is referred to as empirical data because it is not based on opinion or experience, and is able to be verified by other parties or investigators. It is not simply limited to the areas directly affected by the incident, and includes witness statements, ship’s logs and navigation charts, cargo documentation, VDR data, electronic records and CCTV.

An investigator will often start their inspection looking at general details of the scene, and initially these observations will be quite removed from what is perceived as the ‘centre’ of the events. This is in order to establish an overall picture, and observe how the incident has spread, which can often give insightful information on the circumstances surrounding the event.

The investigator then starts to move inwards, documenting information along the way. In the process they will also note in particular any areas of more severe fire damage, the location and position of hatches that may limit fire spread or indicate personnel movements; and whether firefighting equipment was deployed. This information is then used to build a narrative of what was happening as the fire was occurring, as well as corroborating events as recalled by witnesses.

The investigation of the scene is meticulously documented with photographs and contemporaneous notes. These photographs also serve to document ‘before and after’ images if the scene needs to be disturbed by the investigator, for example when conducting excavation or removing samples or due to necessary operations, for example vessel discharge.

Scientific method requires all data collected to be analysed as a whole. Analysis builds upon the simple collection and cataloguing of evidence, and is based upon the knowledge, training, experience and expertise of the individual investigator.

Where needed, the knowledge of the investigator can be augmented by subject matter experts. However, an investigator who has experience in a site-relevant field (for example a maritime or engineering background in the case of a marine fire) will always be preferred as they will be competent in understanding the scene and its context, while providing a balanced assessment of the event itself.

HYPOTHESIS DEVELOPMENT

Once all the raw data have been gathered, the investigator develops a hypothesis based solely on the empirical data and observations to explain the sequence of events and patterns of damage.

It is often the case that multiple hypotheses may be proposed, and each is then ‘played through’ and tested against the empirical facts of the case to determine which is the more likely scenario. These are all fully documented in the final report for consideration and this is often of particular benefit where legal proceedings are undertaken.

The early appointment of a forensic investigator is essential to ensure the comprehensive investigation of maritime fires and explosions, with a view to providing insurers with in-depth answers to the crucial questions of what went wrong, and why. The holistic nature of the investigator’s work will also establish circumstances leading up to the event, as well as provide comment on how the incident unfolded and any pertinent observations of events in the immediate aftermath.

Ultimately, the report provided by a forensic investigator can guide insurers to understand more fully the mechanism by which the event occurred and provide unbiased assessment of the situation to legal experts in cases where action is being taken against other parties.