Containership fire fighting systems decades out of date warn insurers

Speaking at the International Marine Insurance Union (IUMI) conference Uwe-Peter Schieder, of the German Insurance Association GDV, said many containership fires could only realistically tackled by fire-fighting tugs rather than the onboard firefighting systems.

“Fire protection systems have not yet realised that cargo is now transported in containers, as it has been for the last 30 or 40 years. Crews do not have the systems to fight fire,” he said.

“Hull insurers just have to stand by and pay out the claims.”

Schieder said he was aware of five cargo fires on containerships this year, and noted the fire on MSC Flaminia last year in which two crew members died took five weeks to fully extinguish.

He noted that few vessels had been fitted with modern, advanced firefighting systems, which include CO2 flooding of holds and remote control monitors that can send up walls of water, partitioning off any blazes above deck.

Schieder said he hoped to see vessels better equipped to fight fires in years to come that and “We cannot continue cannot continue to ignore the issue”.

Containership cargo fires this year have included the Eugen Maersk, Hansa Brandenberg, Maersk Kampala and the MOL Comfort.