Felicity Ace sailing from Emden, Germany to Davisville U.S.A issued distress call after fire in cargo hold while she was sailing in Atlantic. All crew abandoned the vessel and were safely rescued. Vessel is said to be carrying  Volkswagen & Porsche vehicles.

Track Felicity Ace here

In the recent past various fires had occurred on vehicle carriers, notably:

• MV Courage, 2015 (vessel scrapped),
• MV Honor, 2017, extensive damage, probable cause of fire due to starter motor in one of the vehicles,
• MV Grande America 2019, vessel sank in Bay of Biscay, all crew saved,
• MV Grande Europa, 2019, two separate fires started on different vehicle decks,
• MV Höegh Transporter, 2020, fire in one of the new vehicle while vessel was alongside,
• MV Arc Independence 2020, single vehicle fire, extinguished by the crew

Reason for the fire on board Felicity Ace or the exact status of same is not known yet. Portuguese naval vessels are standing by on the scene till the salvage tugs arrive.

Are vehicles dangerous goods?

IMDG Code special provision 961 states “Vehicles are not subject to the provisions of this Code if any of the following conditions are met: [1] vehicles are stowed on the vehicle, special category and ro-ro spaces or on the weather deck of a ro-ro ship or a cargo space designated by the Administration (flag State) in accordance with SOLAS 74, chapter II-2, regulation 20 as specifically designed and approved for the carriage of vehicles, and there are no signs of leakage from the battery, engine, fuel cell, compressed gas cylinder or accumulator, or fuel tank when applicable. When packed in a cargo transport unit the exception does not apply to container cargo spaces of a ro-ro ship.”

National Transport Safety Board (NTSB) in its report on  Fire aboard Roll-on/Roll-off Vehicle Carrier Höegh Xiamen recommended U.S. Coast Guard to “propose to the International Maritime Organization to eliminate International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code special provision 961 for used and damaged flammable-liquid-powered vehicles transported by roll-on/roll-off vehicle carriers.“

We do not know which types of vehicles are on fire on board Felicity Ace.

DNV GL’s report on incidents in RO-RO spaces between 2005 and 2016 identifies cause of fires from vehicles or power connections.

“In all cases, the fires were caused by the cargo (cars, trucks etc.) or the power connection between the reefer unit and vessel,”

Anders Tosseviken, Principal Approval Engineer Fire Safety & Life-Saving at DNV GL – Maritime Enhancing fire safety on Ro-Ro decks (dnv.com)

There was some news recently about a lithium battery powered car fire where in the firefighters said they had to use more than 90,000 or so litres of water to extinguish the fire whereas they need 1500-2000 litres of water for a fire involving cars with internal combustion engine.

Is the current minimum required water discharge density for deluge/wet pipe/dry pipe of fixed water-based fire-fighting systems for ro-ro spaces and special category spaces are sufficient to extinguish a lithium battery powered vehicle fire, especially if there are multiple lithium battery powered vehicles stowed adjacent and the fire spreads through?