Work Package 2 - Incident Analysis (September 2015–December 2015)

Photo: Toni Fohlin, Helsinki City Rescue Service

Work Package 2 involved examining trends in European commercial maritime traffic, as well as ship fires and the threat of ship fires in the area. This analysis carried out by the Finnish Transport Safety Agency discovered that when the risk is loss of human life or serious injury, ship fires pose the greatest threat to European maritime safety compared to other maritime accidents. According to the analysis, fire poses the greatest threat aboard ships which transport both passengers and cargo (ropax ships). The results of this analysis can be read in the report European Maritime Traffic Risk Assessment on Ship Firespdf, 1,2 MB .

Work Package 2 also involved examining and analysing seven past ship fires in which MIRG teams or other forms of external assistance were or could have been deployed. A team of experts, comprising specialists in MIRG operations, maritime search and rescue, and maritime safety, carried out the analyses between September and November 2015. The results of this analysis are available in the report: Ship fire incident analysispdf, 1,7 MB .

Incidents analysed

The following incidents were chosen for the analyses:

• MS Nordlys: A fire broke out in the engine room of the 122-metre cruise ship operated by Hurtigruten on 15 September 2011. The incident claimed two lives, and 12 people were injured. The ship was on its way to Ålesund, Norway, at the time. The passengers were evacuated off the ship, but 55 crew members stayed behind to assist with firefighting operations. Actual firefighting efforts on board the vessel were initiated only once the vessel had been towed to shore and the Ålesund emergency services and its MIRG teams came on board.
  Accident investigation report: http://www.aibn.no/Marine/Reports/2013-02-eng


• MS The Calypso: A fire broke out in the engine room of the 135-metre cruise ship on 6 May 2006. The ship was carrying 708 people from Tilbury to Guernsey at the time of the incident. The incident was the first one of its kind to provide an opportunity to test the operation of the newly formed MIRG teams. Although the ship’s crew had already got the fire mostly under control, the MIRG team was able to provide valuable assistance both to the ship’s master in decision-making and to rescue services.
  Accident investigation report: https://assets.digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk/media/547c7065ed915d4c0d000097/TheCalypsoReport.pdf


• MS Commodore Clipper: A fire broke out as a result of an electrical fault on the vehicle deck of the 118-metre ro-ro ferry on its way to Portsmouth on 16 June 2010. More than 60 passengers were evacuated off the ship and the fire was extinguished successfully. Several firefighters also contributed to handling the incident once the ship got to port.
  Accident investigation report: https://assets.digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk/media/547c6fb0e5274a428d000037/CommodoreClipperReport.pdf


• MS Lemo: The 79-metre cargo vessel was approaching the port of Kotka with a cargo of lime from Poland on 22 November 2008, when the ship’s fire alarm alerted the crew to a fire in the galley. A pump crew from the Kotka fire and rescue service was transported to the vessel in a coast-guard patrol vessel, and the fire was got under control quickly. A MIRG team from Helsinki was also deployed.
  Accident investigation report: http://www.turvallisuustutkinta.fi/material/attachments/otkes/tutkintaselostukset/fi/vesiliikenneonnettomuuksientutkinta/2008/b32008m_tutkintaselostus/b32008m_tutkintaselostus.pdf


• MS Pearl of Scandinavia was on its way from Oslo to Copenhagen on 16 November 2010, when a fire broke out on the ship’s car deck. The fire was extinguished by the ship’s sprinkler system, the ship’s firefighting team, and Swedish firefighters who were flown to the scene.
  Accident investigation report: http://www.dmaib.dk/Ulykkesrapporter/Final%20report%20-%20PEARL%20OF%20SCANDINAVIA.pdf


• MV Fernanda: A fire broke out in the ship’s engine room on 30 October 2013. The crew were flown off the ship shortly after the fire started. The fire was extinguished with the help of a patrol vessel of the Icelandic Coastguard and firefighters from Reykjavik, and the firefighting operation continued for several days.
  Accident investigation report: http://rns.is/pdfs/fernanda_final_report.pdf


• MV Purple Beach was en route from England to Germany on 25 May 2015, loaded with fertilizers, when a fire erupted in a cargo hold of the vessel. CO2 system was activated by the crew without the desired result. In the beginning of the accident there was a risk that the fertilizers could explode, which is why the crew was soon evacuated from the vessel. Emergency response vessels MV Mellum and MV Neuwerk, together with German firefighting teams, participated in extinguishing the fire under the command of Central Command for Maritime Emergencies Germany.

Analytical method

The aim of the analyses was to determine whether external assistance was useful in minimising the consequences of each incident, and how MIRG operations should be developed on the basis of the lessons learnt. Answers were sought by analysing the different functions that contributed to handling each incident, as illustrated in the figure below. Although the main focus of the analyses was on the role of external assistance, the actions of the ship’s own crew and the contribution of maritime search and rescue authorities to handling the incident was also be taken into consideration.

PNG, 54,5 kB