On the ill-fated day of 6th March 2018, major fire erupted in the cargo hold of Maersk Honam while she was en route to Suez from Singapore resulting in five causalities. Fire on Maersk Honam is one of the biggest container ship fires with extensive damage to cargo and yet to be assessed damage to the vessel itself.

By 9th March  Indian Coast Guard vessel ICGS Shoor brought fire under control and later salvage operators continued cooling and towing the vessel to Jebel Ali.

Customer update of MSC dated 12^th April states “The firefighting and cooling operations are ongoing, with various hotspots remaining”

Maersk Honam is being towed towards Jebal Ali with tugs Maersk Involver, Posh Perseverance and Amazon Chieftan Z. Position as on 20^th April 2018 03:18 UTC is 25.47478 N/56.98648 E

On 16^th March Maersk Kensington reported fire in her hold while sailing towards Suez from Salalah, crew contained the fire by releasing CO2 into the hold.

Read Maersk Line press releases here

Cause of fire

It may take months or a year or more to identify the exact cause of fire or to point to a container for suspected cause of fire however, many hazards originates from mis declared of undeclared dangerous goods.

Firefighting on Container ships

Firefighting on container ships differs whether fire is under deck or on deck.

Under deck fire is fought by releasing carbon dioxide into the hold. Carbon dioxide will cut off oxygen thus smothering the fire. Technically this is true but in real fire where the cargo is burning inside the container flooding the hold with carbon dioxide may not have sufficient effect. After two major fires on ships alongside, NNCI Arauco where 300 firefighters were deployed and Maersk Karachi requiring more than 100 fire fighters, Uwe-Peter Schieder, Vice Chairman of International Union of Marine Insurance said

“At sea, below-deck fires cannot be fought with water and so CO₂ is used instead to displace the oxygen and extinguish the fire. However, if the fire is burning within a container, the box will protect it from the CO₂ and so this method of fire-fighting is rarely successful. Currently there are no other methods of fighting a containership fire below deck. Even on deck, the crew only have access to hoses and nozzles. They do not have sufficient monitors or foam and so cannot cool the vessel’s structure”.

Further if oxidizing substances are loaded under deck and involved in fire releasing carbon dioxide has no or little effect in extinguishing the fire.

International Maritime Authority’s Maritime Safety Committee adopted resolution MSC.365(93) on 22nd May 2014 which bring in amendments to SOLAS regulation for all new ships constructed on or after January 1, 2016.

Highlights of firefighting requirements:

Regulation 10 – Firefighting
“7.3 Firefighting for ships constructed on or after 1 January 2016 designed to carry containers on or above the weather deck

7.3.1 Ships shall carry, in addition to the equipment and arrangements required by paragraphs 1 and 2, at least one water mist lance.

7.3.1.1 The water mist lance shall consist of a tube with a piercing nozzle which is capable of penetrating a container wall and producing water mist inside a confined space (container, etc.) when connected to the fire main.
7.3.2 Ships designed to carry five or more tiers of containers on or above the weather deck shall carry, in addition to the requirements of paragraph

7.3.1, mobile water monitors as follows:
.1 ships with breadth less than 30 m: at least two mobile water monitors; or
.2 ships with breadth of 30 m or more: at least four mobile water monitors.

7.3.2.1 The mobile water monitors, all necessary hoses, fittings and required fixing hardware shall be kept ready for use in a location outside the cargo space area not likely to be cut off in the event of a fire in the cargo spaces.

7.3.2.2 A sufficient number of fire hydrants shall be provided such that:
.1 all provided mobile water monitors can be operated simultaneously for creating effective water barriers forward and aft of each container bay;
.2 the two jets of water required by paragraph 2.1.5.1 can be supplied at the pressure required by paragraph 2.1.6; and
.3 each of the required mobile water monitors can be supplied by separate hydrants at the pressure necessary to reach the top tier of containers on deck.

7.3.2.3 The mobile water monitors may be supplied by the fire main, provided the capacity of fire pumps and fire main diameter are adequate to simultaneously operate the mobile water monitors and two jets of water from fire hoses at the required pressure values. If carrying dangerous goods, the capacity of fire pumps and fire main diameter shall also comply with regulation 19.3.1.5, as far as applicable to on-deck cargo areas.

7.3.2.4 The operational performance of each mobile water monitor shall be tested during initial survey on board the ship to the satisfaction of the Administration.
The test shall verify that:
.1 the mobile water monitor can be securely fixed to the ship structure ensuring safe and effective operation; and
.2 the mobile water monitor jet reaches the top tier of containers with all required monitors and water jets from fire hoses operated simultaneously.”