SOLAS 2010 Deadline Looms For Older Ships

[BenthosCritter]

Apparently the woodwork inside the new Queen Mary 2 is gorgeous....all of this has to be stripped out because it is flammable? Modern passenger ships do have sprinkler systems, fire doors, CO2 systems, fire hoses and fire extinguishers everywhere. How stupid is this?

[sailaway21]

It's not stupid if you're one of thousands on board when she starts to burn. What do you think they do, walk out on the lawn and wait for the fire department?

You want gorgeous wood-redecorate the den this summer. (g)

[Hartley18]

Originally Posted by sailaway21

It's not stupid if you're one of thousands on board when she starts to burn. What do you think they do, walk out on the lawn and wait for the fire department?

You want gorgeous wood-redecorate the den this summer. (g)

Sway, before you switch off on the wrong siding, this is not about lack of fire & safety systems. Anything on the water (including recreational boats!) that doesn't have some kind of fully-functional fire & safety gear on board should never leave port.

This is about old (and older) ships of all makes and types that, even though fitted with millions of $$$$ of the latest GMDSS gear, fogging sprinker systems, low-level lighting and all the rest of that stuff that make you think "holy cow, what on earth is that??", still doesn't meet the regs - because it's made of wood or is fitted out with "combustible material"!

The way these people think is: "Even though it's got enough fire sprinkers to sink it, alarm systems to wake the dead, and ejector seats for every passenger on board, we're not going to give you the okay to sail - because you might catch fire for some reason we haven't thought of yet!!".

Gimme a break... (g)

[sailaway21]

I've seen reports on ships that otherwise met Det Norske Veritas standards of even ten years ago that had a fire erupt, resulting in significant loss of life, because of the wall covering adhesive used was toxic when burned. There is a lot of stuff out there that, in a fire, becomes a problem.

I've seen more than one crew member even sleep through the General Alarm bell signals on board ship.

Fire on board ship is different. In fires on shore the FD ventilates the building for visibility and firefighter safety. You never ventilate on board ship, in fact, you close the ventilation down first off. Just containing a fire on board ship is a big project, not always achievable.

Those with only a shoreside familiarity with fire and safety should not assume that their knowledge translates to ships. Even most sailors do not know what is involved. The only example I can come up with that might resonate with the sailing community is to imagine if you had some type of oil fire at the base of your companionway. You'll probably end up abandoning ship, especially if it's not caught early or you have no extinguishers accessible from the cockpit. It started out as a small fire but you were unable to fight it as the majority of your fire-fighting gear was kept below. That possiblity is repeated hundreds of times on board a ship. And one should remember that we cannot pick the passengers who will be at risk; they could all be 70 years old or not even speak the same language as the crew. Things get complicated.

Sprinkler systems and the like are not necessarily the answer. The SS Normandy capsized right at the dock in NY after fire broke out on board. And the NYFD was basically responsible. They doused the entire ship with water from on the dock and via fireboat. They literally loaded the decks with water. That water caused free surface effect, resulting in a virtual rise of the ship's center of gravity, and she capsized while still tied to the dock.

Ships used to have wooden lifeboats as well. I'm sure the owners felt they'd paid a lot of money for those boats as well and that their ship was well outfitted by the standards of the day. Those standards have evolved and so we don't have to worry about lifeboats burning up either on board or in a sea of burning oil.

SOLAS regs are signed by all of the signatory countries involved and, if there was controversy over updating those regs, they wouldn't sign on. They are and, at a minimum, pasengers should be glad that they do. And, btw, shipping is one of the most hazardous forms of transportation around. When things go bad, they tend to go very bad indeed.