Cruise Ship Fire
Pullmantur Cruises MV Zenith
August 18, 2009
Fire Aboard Pullmantur Cruises' Mv Zenith
By Mike Groves QGM
Cruise Bruise Security And Safety Advisor
August 18, 2009
Fire broke out on board the cruise ship MV Zenith while docked in the port of Frihamnen, Stockholm on the August, 18, 2009. Albeit in shipping terms a relatively minor incident, there were reportedly still 650 passengers onboard the Zenith when the fire broke out with the remaining passengers ashore enjoying the sights of Stockholm. Naturally as with any fire, the potential is always there for it to escalate further, more so within the confines of a large vessel such as this. However that aside, the entire incident becomes more interesting the deeper I delve.
First and foremost I have been unable to locate any ‘direct’ comments from the MV Zenith owners and operators, Pullmantur Cruise Lines, appearing at this point in time to only be the local police and fire officers MAKING comment on the fire but of course I may be mistaken.
Pullmantur Cruise Lines; who has its headquarters in Spain and began operations in the late 1990s, may possibly feel the incident was not really worthy of comment or are otherwise already conducting an internal investigation themselves to establish the events leading up to this incident and ‘any’ possible breaches with onboard fire safety procedures.
Having worked in the industry myself and predominantly in the field of security and safety, I am already aware that no welding or ‘hot works’ may be conducted without 24 hours prior notice, wherever possible, and most certainly not without a ‘Hot Works Permit’ being authorized and signed by either the Chief Engineer, Staff Captain or other Senior Officer.
Furthermore and something that often slipped the attention of some in my experience, is that permits have to be issued on each and every occasion and for each and every location where hot work is being conducted, was this the case for the MV Zenith?
In addition to these somewhat universal safeguards within the cruise industry, a suitable fire extinguisher should always be readily on hand, either Dry Powder (ABC) and one ideally containing levels of Mono Ammonium Phosphate of 65 - 70% and Ammonium Sulfate of 15 - 21% or CO2. Without doubt there are many dry powder extinguishers out there that you would make better use of in the bakery! During my time with the cruise industry, I personally insisted that dry power not to be used whenever teams were working near offices or other electronics, the fine powder easily destroying these if discharged nearby.
Often the best all-rounder is a CO2 extinguisher although this does not come without its own risks, particularly when working in confined spaces such as those found within a cruise ship! If memory serves me right, inhalation of 9% or more invariably leading to unconsciousness - “Not a good time to fall asleep!”
The final safeguard and most important in terms of fire safety, was to introduce the human factor! Whenever ‘Hot Works’ are undertaken they should ‘always’ be suitably supervised by means of an on-going Fire Watch, and without exception! This is especially crucial when working on a cruise ship, itself constructed of steel bulkheads [walls, floors and ceilings] due to the added risk of Conduction – the transfer of heat through a solid material from a region of higher temperature to a region of lower temperature.
This is the most significant risk for fire spread in large buildings or in this instance, cruise ships, IE the transfer of heat through steal before then entering or otherwise breaching out into other locations around the vessel. A member of the security team or other members of the crew often undertook this role onboard our cruise ships and so I find myself asking the following - was this ‘safety requirement’ in place onboard the MV Zenith?
My questions beckon from the following and without any accusations being made against officers or crew of the MV Zenith whatsoever however, a number of news articles have clearly highlighted–
(1) The attendance of local fire crews, which indicates that the ships own fire response parties were either unable to deal with the fire alone, however as often is the case in ports of call there may have only been one duty crew remaining on board, or the ships Master was concerned enough to request additional shore side assistance?
(2) That two contract workers or crew, reports still appear sketchy, were hospitalized for smoke inhalation. This in itself indicates that they were already unable to effectively extinguish a fire that is believed to have started where they were working and therefore, should have been discovered in its very early stages of combustion and development, or did it ignite elsewhere through the transfer of heat – Conduction, and without the welder’s knowledge? There should have been a full fire watch in operation, routinely checking various compartments above, below or surrounding this particular area of hot works (welding)? Indeed, was it the two welders that were hospitalized or was it other crewmembers that initially attempted to tackle the fire breaking out elsewhere?
(3) Smoke was reported to be in corridors, with one news article stating the following - The fire was minor but they have not been able to suppress the some (I would assume this spelling mistake is referring to smoke) from traveling through the corridors yet. And according to the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, heavy smoke was visible yesterday from several of the ship’s decks when the fire alarm sounded at 2:37 pm local time while the vessel was docked at the port of Frihamnen, Stockholm. This to me indicates a fire that is (A) bigger than one wishes to admit or (B) the smoke was finding its normal exit routes, as smoke invariably does, via Air Conditioning ducts or other access (open) points such as stairwells, corridors or elevator shafts.
(4) The emergency call was reported to have been received at 2.37 pm local time so I would assume, that the crew may have been trying to tackle the fire themselves no more than ten minutes prior to this, unless it is the operators policy to notify local emergency services immediately? I do not know, however what I do know is that all media reports appear to confirm that ships crew and the Stockholm fire brigade extinguished the fire by 4 pm local time.
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MV Zenith leaving Helsinki in the rain. Source: Wikipedia
