Alert on vehicle fires aboard ship

CLEAR THE DECKS

BATTERIES • FIRES ABOARD SHIP ARE SOMETHING TO BE FEARED AND, AS THE LOSS OF THE CAR CARRIER HÖEGH XIAMEN SHOWS, BEING STILL IN PORT DOES NOT CONFER FULL PROTECTION

WORD IS SPREADING that ships – most especially car carriers and ro-ro ferries – are at growing risk of fire starting in vehicles. While much of the focus of concern has been on battery electric vehicles, it is clear that recent events have featured more traditional cars and trucks.

For instance, the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has determined that the severe fire that struck the car carrier Höegh Xiamen in the port of Jacksonville, Florida on 4 June 202 was caused by an electrical arc or component fault in one of the used vehicles it had loaded.

The fire broke out as the vessel was preparing to depart the Blount Island Horizon Terminal bound for Baltimore; crew spotted smoke coming from a ventilation housing and discovered a fire on deck 8, which had been loaded with used vehicles; they attempted to fight the fire but were beaten back by heavy smoke and handed over to shoreside fire department teams. The fire proved very difficult to extinguish and nine firefighters were injured, five of them seriously, by an explosion as they opened an exhaust vent, causing an over-pressurisation event. After that, responders took a defensive strategy and it was not until eight days later that the fire was properly extinguished.

The vessel and its cargo of 2,420 used vehicles were declared a total loss, valued at some $40m; the ship itself was towed to Turkey for demolition.

FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS The transport of used vehicles is currently exempted from the US Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR), so long as the vessel has a stowage area specifically designed and approved for carrying vehicles. However, NTSB says, used vehicles are often damaged and present an elevated risk of fire. “We believe that greater inspection, oversight, and enforcement are needed to reduce this risk,” its report notes.

NTSB’s investigation also found that the detection of the fire was delayed because the vessel’s operator did not have procedures in place to minimise the amount of time that detection systems were deactivated after loading. Shoreside response was also delayed as the ship’s master did not have contact information for local rescue authorities and did not know how to report the fire by radio. The master also delayed the release of the ship’s fixed carbon dioxide firefighting system.

NTSB determined that the probable cause of the fire aboard the vehicle carrier was the ineffective oversight by the vessel’s operators of longshoremen at the terminal, which did not identify that battery securement procedures were not being followed. An arc or other electrical fault from an improperly disconnected battery in a used vehicle started the fire.

NTSB has made recommendations to the companies involved to improve the oversight of vehicle loading and the training of personnel involved in battery securement in used and damaged vehicles. NTSB also made recommendations to federal agencies to improve regulations for vehicle carriers that transport used vehicles.

Specifically, NTSB has recommended that the US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) eliminate the exception provided in paragraph 176.905(i) of HMR for used and damaged flammable liquid-powered vehicles carried by ro-ro vehicle carriers; and that the US Coast Guard propose that the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) eliminate special provision 961 from the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code.

The full report on the incident can be downloaded from the NTSB website at www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/ Reports/MAR2104.pdf.