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Fire & Evacuation

Although regular servicing is an area proper management of the servicing can At any one time in a modern engine

which costs, if organised in the right way benefit operations.”
room there can be thousands of litres of
Another area where regular testing it can actually save money, according to flammable liquids circulating inside the

is vital is leakage alarm systems to Mr Madsen.
pipe systems and aside from the obvious
“We can see from the service intervals prevent costly engine room fires.
risk to life, a ship fire is inevitably a very

that owners and managers miss out on Lessons are still not being learned costly, time consuming, property repair.
cost savings and reduced administration when it comes to preventing such fires, According to International

because they don’t consolidate servicing according to marine surveying and Association of Classification Socities
of their equipment. There has been a lot technical consultancy Braemar SA, (IACS) rules and after 1998, also

of focus in recent years on reducing following a review of incidents taking SOLAS Ch II-2 Reg. 14.2.10, all
operating costs in general, but not on the place in 2013.
surfaces above 220C must be insulated

cost of multiple technician visits. This “Last year we attended a significant or protected in order to prevent ignition

may be a short-sighted cash flow issue, number of engine room fires – the of flammable fluids. However,
however it’s a more costly and time- industry is still experiencing far too according to Mr Temple, there appears

consuming way of keeping equipment many unnecessary casualties where to be a continuing neglect of areas
up to date.”
flammable liquids in engine rooms are where flammable liquids can escape

He added: “VIKING has customised finding their way onto hot spots,” said from high pressure (HP) and low
service agreements that address the Graeme Temple, Regional Director for pressure (LP) fuel, HP and LP

hidden costs of servicing and it’s Braemar SA’s Far East operations.
lubricating, purifier and fuel valve
important that owners and managers “On many of the vessels I visit, cooling systems.

consider the marine fire equipment as these hot spots are only too easy “In reality, basic maintenance is all
part of a portfolio.”
to find, with thermal imaging that is required. Engine room crew

Mr Masden urged owners and photographs readily identifying should carry out regular inspection of

managers against waiting for these defects.”
pipes and associated fittings; they should
classification societies to interpret MSC refit brackets and lagging when carrying He said that despite all the

misc.1/Circ 1432 and produce internal out maintenance; leaks should be attention Class aims at fire prevention
guidelines. He also stressed the repaired quickly before a drip becomes and protection design, potential

importance of choosing a quality safety a spray; spares for HP fuel pipes should problems must be detected earlier to
provider with the right training and be available, and leakage alarm systems ensure a fast and efficient response as

competency saying: “we can already see should be tested regularly. Prevention is a crew has only limited resources and
now that in addition to the safety risks,
as straightforward as that.” time to prevent any problem escalating.

I

2014 Issue 60 The SHIP Supplier 31