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STEM THE TIDE CONTAINERSHIP FIRES • MAJOR LOSSES RESULTING FROM FIRES ABOARD CONTAINER VESSELS CONTINUE TO HAPPEN. A SOLUTION WILL REQUIRE BROAD ACTION ACROSS INDUSTRY THE PROLIFERATION OF serious fires onboard containerships and ro-ro vessels in recent years has shocked the international shipping industry and its partners. Andrew Gray, director at specialist maritime law firm Campbell Johnston Clark (CJC), considers the causes and impact of such fires and the urgent efforts being made by a wide variety of stakeholders to solve this seemingly intractable problem. The substantial increase in such fires runs counter to an overall improvement in the maritime accident record; there has been a 70 per cent fall in ship losses over the past decade, according to underwriter Allianz.
Currently, as TT Club has highlighted, there is a fire aboard a containership every week and a serious fire every 60 days – indeed, during the first half of 2020, there were ten such events. This disturbing situation has been linked to both supply chain issues, including the widespread non-declaration and mis-declaration of dangerous goods, and inadequate firefighting systems onboard many of these vessels. There are some 5.4 million containers shipped annually that contain dangerous goods, according to Gard; of these, nearly one quarter are poorly packed or incorrectly identified, according to TT Club. Undeclared
or mis-declared cargoes that have become notorious for causing container fires include calcium hypochlorite (widely used as a bleaching agent), lithium batteries and charcoal. Non-declaration or mis-declaration of cargoes is generally understood to arise from shippers’ attempts to pay lower freight or circumvent restrictions on the carriage of dangerous cargoes. ONBOARD RESPONSE FAILINGS There has also been widespread concern about the ability of existing ships’ firefighting systems to deal with container fires. A 2017 study by the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) highlighted that systems originally developed for fighting fires in general cargo ship holds have proved to be unsuitable for container vessels. Smoke detection and CO² fire-extinguishing systems developed for large open holds may be completely ineffective within the confines of individual containers stowed beneath hatch-cover pontoons that are not gas-tight. There are calls for more sophisticated fire detection systems, utilising infrared cameras or thermal sensors installed both below deck and on deck. While the containment of a fire within a limited number of containers remains the approved method of firefighting onboard a container ship, the equipment available is often unsuitable. Many stakeholders warn that new technical solutions are needed to make this approach effective. These issues have only been magnified by the steadily increasing size of container ships from 10,000 teu vessels in 2005 to ultra-large container ships in excess of 20,000 teu today. Regulation II-2/10 of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (Solas) has improved firefighting on vessels built after 1 January 2016 but there are many who think more is needed. Ideas include using the ship’s structure to create more effective fire compartments and installing enhanced below-deck and on-deck water-based systems to cool the ship’s superstructure and prevent the spread of fire.
HCB MONTHLY | DECEMBER 2020
