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ENGINE ROOM FIRES In association with The Swedish Club
Dealing with Engine Room Fires Peter Stålberg, Senior Technical Advisor, The Swedish Club, explains how best to deal with infrequent, but potentially catastrophic engine room fires. Engine rooms on ships have all the ingredients for a fire – oxygen, heat and flammable fluids under pressure. It is a surprising fact, however, that when compared with all hull and machinery (H&M) claims the frequency of engine room fires occurring is low. What may not be so surprising is the fact that statistics published by The Swedish Club show the average cost to be $1.85m compared with $320,000 for other H&M claims. The Marine Insurer P&I Special Edition | July 2020
Peter Stålberg, Senior Technical Advisor at The Swedish Club, says that the dominating causes of many engine room fires are the same - lube-oil and fuel-oil mist spraying onto hot surfaces and then igniting. “The SOLAS requirements concerning oil piping in engine rooms are clear. All types of oil pipes must be screened and protected so that any eventual leak will not spray onto a hot surface. Any surface with a temperature above 220°C must be thermally insulated,” says Mr Stålberg.
