A new video has been added to the West of England P&I Club’s LEARN THE ROPES video series, which deals with engine room fire safety to highlight the potential sources that can result in the development of a fire in the engine room and critical factors that the vessel’s crew and superintendent should pay constant attention to for their prevention.
Fires on ships present extreme danger. Engine room fires are challenging to combat due to the confined space and an abundance of fire triangle elements: heat, fuel and air. Therefore, a vessel’s crew must maintain the engine room to a high standard to reduce the fire risk, warns the Club
When flammable liquids leak, splash, or spray onto an exposed high-temperature surface, they can auto-ignite. The risk of ignition is higher in the areas around hot exhaust manifolds of oil-fired boilers and diesel engines and indicator valves of such machinery. Fuel leaks cause up to 70% of all engine room fires.
