Fire prevention considerations on board
In the ship’s engine room, patchworks or rags used to clean oil must be equipped with covers. Oily cloth rags should not stay lying in unnecessary places. Majun shelters must be equipped with covers and must be provided on each floor and on both sides of the ship.
High pressure fuel oil pipes should not be hardened or tightened in order to control leakage while the ship’s engine is running or operating. This is sometimes done by machinists. Oil should not be taken while the turbocharger is operating. This is sometimes forgotten also for ABK machines.
The guess pipe on the deck of both the engine room and on the main deck must be kept always closed. Cannot be left open. If an incident of oil spills from the alleged pipes, it must be reported because this is the initial cause of the ship’s fire. (see SOPEP manual).
Exhaust gas leaks and vapor leaks must be of particular concern. ABK must be careful with regard to fire originating from the kitchen, especially by always maintaining all electrical equipment in the kitchen, the cables must be made of marine used must always be in good condition.
Senior officers and all crew members must always supervise the kitchen while in the kitchen because this is the right time to monitor the condition of the kitchen and continue to be taken care of by the kitchen staff (boat cook).
One of the most effective and patent ways for fire prevention and effectiveness is by fire patrolling. Usually ship safety management always emphasizes this. There is no way or method that can defeat physical monitoring directly or known as “blush”.
Fire caused by smoking is also one of the most common causes of fire. All attention to the dangers of smoking on board must always be carried out especially the activity of littering (throwing cigarette butts must be done on a covered ashtray. There are even boat owners who forbid ABK to smoke on their ships. The hardest prohibition is not to smoke in bed .
On certain types of ships, fires can also be caused during the process of loading and unloading of cargo, for example loading and unloading of coal and oil. For this reason, ship personnel must always discuss the characteristics of the cargo and the methods of prevention that must be carried out during safety meetings and weekly training. Effective implementation of the ISM code must be done.
These are some things that need to be considered so that the ship’s environment is safe from ship fires. This is actually not all the ways that we can convey, in fact there are still other ways to prevent ship fires. However, the above considerations can provide a brief description of what needs to be done on the ship.
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