A bulk carrier was approaching its assigned berth under pilotage. The Master and a helmsman were on the bridge.
The incident
The pilot explained his berthing plan to the Master and the Master informed the pilot of the vessel’s manoeuvring particularities, among other things that the vessel was equipped with a left-handed controllable-pitch propeller. There was a flood current of between one and two knots, with very light winds in the same direction as the flood current. Given these conditions, and that it was daylight with good visibility, it was decided that no tugs were needed for the berthing.
A passenger/RoRo ferry was underway in a restricted waterway when the fire detection system alarm sounded.
The incident
The bridge fire panel indicated a fire on deck 1, zone 4. Less than 30 seconds later, the fire detection system began to identify further alarms in multiple locations in the engine rooms.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has determined an improperly sized bearing resulting in an engine failure and subsequent fire on board an offshore supply vessel near Seattle last year.
The Cargo Fire & Loss Innovation Initiative is calling for innovators to come forward with solutions for early-stage fire detection, one of the most important issues in the drive to mitigate container loss.