Engine-Room Fire with Missing Personnel and CO2 Available
At 0215, while your 4,500 TEU container ship is 200 nm from the nearest port, the fire alarm sounds for the engine room. On arrival at the fire station, you see dense black smoke from the purifier room doorway and flames visible through the inspection window. The fixed CO2 system is ready but has not been released. Two engine-room ratings are unaccounted for; one is believed to have been on watch in the control room, the other may have gone to the purifier room. The engine room has been stopped and the fuel quick-closing valve has been shut. The chief engineer wants to release CO2 immediately. The master is on the bridge and asks you, as OOW, for a recommendation. Wind is NE force 4, visibility good. The vessel has 22 crew, a rescue boat, and fire teams standing by.
1. What would you recommend about releasing CO2 immediately? Explain the priorities.
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Recommend not releasing CO2 yet. CO2 is a total-flooding system that will kill anyone still in the engine room; before release, all personnel must be accounted for and the space must be sealed. Two ratings are missing, and one may be in the purifier room, which is the seat of the fire. The priority is to confirm the muster list and search the accessible spaces with breathing-apparatus teams, using thermal imaging and a lifeline, while boundary cooling and closing openings. If a rescue can be made safely, do it before CO2. If the fire is spreading, the engine room cannot be entered, and all persons are accounted for or rescue is clearly impossible, then the master can order CO2 release. The chief engineer's urgency is understandable, but release without a head count would be a fatal error. Prepare the system: close ventilation flaps, skylights and quick-closing valves, ensure the space is sealed, then release on the master's order and keep the space sealed.
2. How would you organise boundary cooling and the search for the missing ratings?
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Cool the engine-room boundaries from outside, especially the purifier room bulkheads, with fire hoses, but do not open the space. Maintain fire teams at the boundaries, check adjacent spaces for heat, and protect the accommodation, fuel tanks and electrical spaces. For the search, muster all crew, take a head count, question witnesses and establish the last known positions. Send breathing-apparatus teams in pairs with a charged hose, thermal imaging camera and lifeline, but only if access is safe. Do not open the purifier room door if there is a risk of backdraft; cool the door first. If the missing persons are not found quickly, the master must decide whether rescue is still feasible. Prepare the rescue boat, first-aid and stretcher parties. Keep the engine room stopped and the fuel shut off.
3. What emergency communications and post-fire actions would you initiate?
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Make a distress or urgency broadcast as appropriate: MAYDAY if the vessel is in grave and imminent danger, or PAN PAN if the fire is contained but assistance may be needed. Give the position, nature of the fire, persons missing and assistance required. Notify the nearest maritime rescue coordination centre, nearby vessels, the company designated person ashore, the flag State and the port State. Keep the bridge log and a fire log with times. After the fire is out, do not open the engine room until it has cooled; use breathing apparatus and controlled ventilation, check for re-ignition and test the atmosphere. Preserve evidence, photograph damage and report to class, flag and insurers. Before restarting, check the engine-room structure, electrical systems, fuel lines and CO2 system. Conduct a debrief and review the permit-to-work and hot-work procedures.