FIRE IN CONTAINERS – A POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT FOR ON-BOARD FIRE FIGHTING GD GEORG DUNCKER BRIDGE LOOK-OUT – EDITION NO. 01/22 As insurance brokers, professional claims handling is one of the key services which we offer to our clients, and we subsequently deal with a large number of different cases of various nature. One of the most complex type of claims has always been fire damage on board container ships and in particular fires breaking out inside containers. What makes these type of claims stand out is the unpredictable source of the fire, alongside its potential spread to other containers. The International Group of P&I Clubs pool claims for fires are reported to have increased by more than tenfold between 2016 and 2020, from $25 million to $333 million, with cases involving fires in containers providing a key cause. There have been 16 serious container ship fires in the past five years, resulting in tragic loss of life as well as millions of dollars in claims. With crew likely to be among the last to know ‘what’s in the box’, fighting a blaze in the stack from deck level is also extremely difficult. Despite the catastrophes, attempts to extinguish container fires still largely involve crews aiming hoses at the outside, in a ‘boundary cooling’ damage limitation method which does not target the fire’s main body. Although the industry had faced various examples of catastrophic fires on board container ships, an appliance specifically designed to fight fires inside the container had simply never been available. However, this changed when VIKING Life-Saving Equipment introduced just such an appliance, in the shape of the HydroPen™ System. Since launching the HydroPen, there have been several cases in which the crew was able to successfully keep the fire in a container under control by using this new safety equipment and hence, avoiding potential catastrophic consequences. We have, therefore, decided to bring this important fire-fighting appliance to the attention of our clients and are happy to have Lasse Boesen, Senior Product Manager of VIKING LIFE-SAVING EQUIPMENT A/S and Martin Birgersson, Claims Manager of the Swedish Club, as guest editors to elaborate on this important topic and to share their professional opinion about this new emergency fire-fighting appliance. HydroPen is a drilling and spraying device which attaches to existing ship firehoses. Deployed by a single member of the crew and driven only by water from the vessel’s fire-mail, down to a 2,5 bar of pressure, the drill penetrates the container door before the HydroPen automatically switches to spray mode to fight the fire behind. Using a telescopic lift, the HydroPen can be raised to fight a container fire high up in the stack. In all cases, once the unit is in place, the crew member can leave the vicinity to let the HydroPen get on with fighting the fire at its source. Please see also the illustrating video.
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