INDUSTRIAL

FIRE JOURNAL
THE WORLDS LEADING VOICE FOR THE INDUSTRIAL HIGH-RISK FIRE INDUSTRY

Summer 2012 issue no. 88 www.hemmingfire.com

DO WE NEED A NEW EXIT STRATEGY?

Only 38% of people see exit signs during an evacuation

FIRE FIGHTING OUTSIDE THE BOX

Yang Ming Green case study: dealing with container fires at sea

FOAM DISCHARGE OBLIGATIONS

EU Daughter Directive focusses on non-hazardous pollutants
3RD ANNUAL MIDDLE EAST FIRESAFE

SETTING THE GREEN AGENDA

Coalition for Responsible Fire Protection in the spotlight

24 26 September 2012, Dubai, U.A.E.

FIRE IN
THE HOLD
CONTAINER FIRES ARE AMONGST THE MOST
DIFFICULT TO EXTINGUISH, SO WHEN JOHAN LUIJKS
RESPONDED TO AN INCIDENT ON THE YANG MING
GREEN, HE HAD TO THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX,
WRITES ANN-MARIE KNEGT.
he container ship Yang Ming Green was located in the
Strait of Malacca, near Singapore (August 8, 2006),
when Johan Luijks, now the owner of Offmain 24/7
Response, based in the Netherlands, received a phone call
from a large carrier. At that time Johan was a member of the
then-called Risk Emergency Response Team (Falk Risk,
Netherlands), which is always on call to respond to major
maritime fires and incidents that occur internationally. A fire
in the hold had been reported, and the firefighting crew had
released CO2 to extinguish the fire. Crew members said that
they thought that the fire had been extinguished, but
experts from Smit Salvage (a major salvage company) knew
this couldnt be the case, as it is impossible to extinguish a
smouldering container fire with CO2.

T
The Cobra was used
to suppress the
smouldering fires in
the containers on
board the Yang
Ming Green.

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 INDUSTRIAL FIRE JOURNAL  SUMMER 2012

Although CO2 suppresses oxygen, it never brings the

levels down low enough to extinguish a smouldering fire in a
container. CO2 brings the oxygen level down to around 10%,
whereas a smouldering fire requires a decrease in oxygen of
around 2 to 3% to be extinguished, he commented.
Johan and the salvage team were deployed to Singapore,
where he and his colleague Gert-Jan Langerak immediately
carried out an assessment of the hold, where several
thousands containers were stacked at least six stories high.
They asked the crew if they had been down to check the
hold. The crew confirmed affirmative. However, when they
opened the manholes that delivered access, the heat had
built up to such a high temperature that large volumes of
smoke and steam were released. Johan and Gert-Jan quickly
concluded that the crew hadnt been anywhere near the hold,
because they had been too daunted by what was actually
occurring under deck.
Before we could do anything else we had to ventilate the
hold for several hours, so the temperature and combustion
gases would decrease. After we succeeded to do so, we put
on our BA and descended through the thermal layer where
the ambient temperature was much cooler.
We had to check all the containers by using thermal
imaging cameras and gas detectors. The problem in the hold
is that you can only access it via a set of manholes, and
therefore you can only approach the containers via gangways
from one side because they are stored very close together. In
order to get to the other gangway, you have to enter via
another manhole this is a time consuming process. We
checked every unit with the gas detector by inserting the
detector via the seals, because we are not allowed for
insurance reasons to open them.
After checking every single unit we found that the seat of
the fire was located in an exploded container that stored
batteries which had detonated. The steel frame had melted
and there was nothing left of the original framework,
explained Johan.
The next thing on their list was to check all surrounding
containers for signs of fire, which had indeed spread to
around 20-30 of the surrounding units. Subsequently, they
decided to place a large barge next to the ship, to which all
burning units were transferred with a crane a process that
took weeks. During that time, the remaining affected
containers in the hold had to be monitored and cooled

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constantly to avoid fire spread, because they were facing the major
risk of the whole hold going up in flames.
The other problem we faced that we were not allowed to open
anything with a cutting tool and just put a hose in and dowse the
contents with water. We have to consult with the insurers and that
process can take weeks. Instead, we attacked every container that
was affected with the Cobras manufactured by Cold Cut Systems
(Sweden), once they had been placed on the barge.
This cutting extinguishing system consists of a mixture of water and
cutting agent (abrasive) being ejected through a special nozzle at
high pressure (>250 bar). A fine water mist is then released into the
compartment, which helps suppress the fire by cooling it and
creating an inert space. This was the first time the Cobra had been
used to suppress and manage a container fire onboard a ship, after
Smit Salvage had purchased two units earlier that year, based on
Johan and Gert-Jans recommendations.
Johan successfully managed to lower the temperature and
decrease the combustion gases with the Cobra, after which the team
finished the job off by cutting the containers open and putting a hose
line in to dowse the smouldering contents in water. Johan added that
by that time they were so damaged that they couldnt be opened in
any other way.
In the past the team had trained with the Cobra on several different
types of fires, ranging from structural fire to smouldering fires in
containers, and therefore Johan and Gert-Jan were familiar with the
capabilities of the equipment.
The Cobra has many different applications onboard ships,
including compartment firefighting. It is a fantastic tool and an
extremely useful addition to our arsenal of firefighting equipment,
Johan concluded.

JOHAN LUIJKS
Johan Luijks is the head of Offmain 24/7 Response, a
company that delivers emergency response services
to all key players in the salvage and offshore industry.
His team consists of experienced firefighters, fire
team leaders, hazmat specialists, marine chemists
and a marine ecologist.

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SUMMER 2012  INDUSTRIAL FIRE JOURNAL 

35

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SUMMER 2012  INDUSTRIAL FIRE JOURNAL 

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