Interferry regulatory committee chairman John Garner describes the trade association’s crucial role in the innovative LASH FIRE roro ship fire safety project
Following several serious incidents in recent years, focused research and development of regulations has improved prevention and control of fires on roro ships. The research has been conducted by 27 research and industry partners including Interferry, who came together in the European Union-backed LASH FIRE project. This is a four-year R&D initiative launched in September 2019 with a €13.5M (US$14.8M) budget, which will conclude in August 2023.
LASH FIRE is an acronym for Legislative Assessment for Safety Hazards of Fire and Innovations in Ro-Ro Ship Environment. The objective of the project was to develop and demonstrate more than 40 new risk control measures as the basis for a revision of IMO regulations that greatly enhances independent shipboard fire prevention, detection and control. This has been successfully achieved in the project, with Interferry now focusing on disseminating the research and project results.
In parallel, several LASH FIRE partners have participated in the Correspondence Group and drafting group of the IMO Sub-Committee on Ship Systems and Equipment (SSE) which included proposed amendments to SOLAS Chapter II-2 and the FSS Code for new and existing roro passenger ships. These were finalised at the IMO SSE9 meeting in London on 2 March 2023 and are to be agreed by the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC 107) in London in June 2023. The amendments include fixed fire detection and fire alarm systems with smoke and heat detection in special category spaces, open and closed roro and vehicle spaces, a fixed water-based fire-extinguishing system based on monitors for weather decks and an effective video monitoring system of seven days for new ships and 24 hours for existing ships. The amendments will apply to new ships from first renewal survey after 1 January 2026 and to existing ships similarly from 1 January 2028.
To disseminate information to the shipping industry, Interferry, together with LASH FIRE partners, has hosted two webinars to explain the upcoming regulatory changes and the solutions emerging from the LASH FIRE project to effectively deal with them. The first webinar was hosted 19 January 2023 on ropax weather deck fire safety with various LASH FIRE partners explaining the issues, the upcoming changes to regulations, the options available for detecting weather deck fires and the methods, such as fire monitors, available to suppress and contain weather deck fires.
The second webinar co-ordinated by Interferry on battery-electric vehicles (BEV) featured solutions developed in the LASH FIRE project and various LASH FIRE partners. This webinar had more than 700 registered participants with over 350 people attending virtually. The testing, carried out using a fixed water-based extinguishing system normally known as a drencher system, simulated a thermal runaway fire in a BEV on a roro deck. The tests demonstrated that a drencher system installed and operated in accordance with the requirements of SOLAS could contain the fire and the overall risk of BEVs should be considered equivalent to or lower than that of internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs).
The tests illustrated that while the BEV fires presented a different fire scenario to those of an ICEV fire, the performance requirements of existing fixed water-based extinguishing systems on both closed and open roro decks were sufficient to contain a BEV fire, at least to a level equivalent of an ICEV fire. A fuel spill fire associated with an ICEV develops very rapidly, peaks high but burns out fast, while a fire starting in the battery pack of a BEV develops slower and is not as large – resulting in a lower heat release – but burns longer. The scenario of the fire in other combustibles such as tires, exterior and undercarriage plastic parts and inside the car, is similar. As the drencher system could contain the fire, the tests clearly illustrated the overall risk of carrying BEV vehicles should be considered equivalent or lower than carrying ICEVs. As for the latter vehicle type, there is the additional risk of the fire spreading horizontally, and when a fuel tank ruptures, burning fuel on the deck risks spreading under the adjacent cars.
These findings are so crucial to the industry that Interferry made a submission to the IMO MSC 107 meeting in June this year. LASH FIRE has also secured a lunchtime speaking slot during the IMO Maritime Safety Committee meeting on 2 June in London to disseminate the results from the consortium.
The LASH FIRE consortium will host an in-person conference on Fire Safety at Sea (CFIS2023) in Pula, Croatia on 28 June 2023. This will be held in co-ordination with a final meeting of the Maritime Authorities Advisory Group (MAAG) and the Maritime Operators Advisory Group (MOAG). Interferry will co-ordinate the input and feedback from the MAAG and MOAG members and feed it back into the LASH FIRE consortium.
This project has efficiently demonstrated how industry and authorities can work in harmony to deliver the common goal of solutions and regulations that really work.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement nº 814975.
This article reflects only the author’s views and the members of the LASH FIRE consortium are not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.
Capt John Garner represents Interferry in the LASH FIRE project and is the managing director of consultancy JG Maritime Solutions, which he established in 2018. He was previously with P&O Ferries, where he was fleet director for 15 years after eight years as a senior master.
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