Vessel fires nonetheless high concern for transport business – report

Fires on seagoing vessels have turn out to be a serious security concern for the transport business, with latest incidents just like the Fremantle Freeway, a car-carrying vessel that caught fireplace off the Dutch coast whereas transporting 1000’s of autos from Germany to Egypt, highlighting the severity of the difficulty.

Allianz‘s Security and Transport Evaluate 2023 reveals that fireside ranked because the second high reason behind loss for transport vessels final yr, following foundering, with eight vessels misplaced and over 200 incidents reported – the very best in a decade.

“Yearly Allianz Business analyzes reported transport losses and incidents involving ships over 100 gross tons in our annual report,” mentioned Captain Rahul Khanna, international head of marine danger consulting at Allianz Business. “And though transport losses have declined by 65% over the previous decade (38 vessels in 2022 in contrast with over 100 in 2013), sadly fireplace incidents haven’t adopted.

“We proceed to see main occasions involving massive container ships, automotive carriers and ro-ro vessels for instance,” Khanna mentioned. “There have been over 200 reported fireplace incidents throughout 2022 alone (209) – the very best whole for a decade. In the meantime, 64 ships have been misplaced to fires up to now 5 years. AGCS evaluation of 250,000 marine insurance coverage business claims reveals fireplace can also be the most costly reason behind loss, accounting for 18% of the worth of all claims analyzed.”

Hearth-related losses additionally account for 18% of the worth of all claims analyzed within the marine insurance coverage business, Allianz mentioned.

Catastrophic fires on massive vessels typically originate from flamable cargo, quickly spreading past the crew’s firefighting capabilities. The scale and design of those vessels make fireplace detection and preventing tougher, growing the chance of a serious or whole loss. Misdeclaration of cargo is one other important subject, with round 25% of significant incidents on container ships attributed to mis-declared harmful items, Allianz reported. Khanna mentioned that correct validation and documentation of hazardous cargo are important to forestall such blazes.

Li-Ion batteries have additionally been a contributing think about latest fires on vessels. These batteries, utilized in electrical autos (EVs) and varied client items, pose dangers because of fireplace, explosion, and “thermal runaway.” The surge in demand for Li-Ion batteries and EVs has flooded the market with new producers, elevating issues about high quality management.

“In fact, Li-Ion batteries are an vital supply of vitality and don’t essentially burn extra regularly than different items,” Khanna mentioned. “It is just once they ignite that they’re harder to extinguish as they’ll burn extra ferociously and are able to spontaneously reigniting hours and even days after they’ve been put out.”

Khanna mentioned that the transport business should take pre-emptive measures to mitigate Li-Ion fireplace dangers, similar to making certain correct SOC ranges, requesting certification from producers, offering satisfactory coaching and firefighting gear to crew, and bettering early detection programs. Moreover, he steered unified necessities and penalties for mis-declared hazardous cargo to deal with the misdeclaration subject.

As the controversy over EVs in transport continues, Khanna mentioned that devoted Ro-ro vessels for EV transport might considerably scale back the chance of fireside. Protecting measures for EVs embrace correct labeling, passing security assessments, safe stowage throughout transport, and exploring fire-proof blankets particularly designed for EVs.

Latest notable incidents, like the fireplace on board the automotive provider Felicity Ace and the Höegh Xiamen, spotlight the pressing want for the transport business to deal with fireplace dangers and implement security measures successfully, Allianz mentioned.

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