The Standard Club has released a guide for Master’s regarding fire safety on ferries.
Yves Vandenborn, Director, Loss Prevention, The Standard Club, said: “Fires on board ships are frightening events which, if undetected or not tackled in a timely manner, can escalate rapidly into catastrophic casualties. This fire risk is particularly dangerous on ferries where cars, lorries, refrigerated containers and, most importantly, passengers are carried in large numbers and in varying conditions.
“The Standard Club, as a major marine insurer, publishes this guide to raise awareness amongst mariners and the marine industry generally of the attendant risks and the vital need for safe working practices and operating procedures at all times on board ferries,” he said.
The guide contains basic advice about a fire on board a passenger ferry, basic fire science using the fire triangle motif, which explains the conditions necessary for fire to occur. It illustrates the principle that if an oxidiser (normally oxygen in air), a source of fuel and a source of ignition (heat) come together, then a fire can occur.
Ferries are constructed to contain and extinguish fire in accordance with eight principles of fire safety. The guide goes onto to explain these eight principles and firefighting equipment and its use, emergency preparedness, the human element, accident investigation and contains a ‘dos and don’ts’ checklist.
