Fire fighting mediums on ships

[James Curry]

Spotted on the LA fires posts about what is used on ships for fire fighting mediums. thought I would post a new thread so as to not drift off the original LA Fires topic.
Certainly in my time at sea in the engine room and pumprooms and car decks we had

CO2 flooding to Engine room & Pump room only to be discharged after all ships company accounted for.

Flooding the engine room space with High Expansion foam , not 100% sure on rules that governed the discharge.

https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/10/4949

Low expansion foam used on deck fires (oil spills)

Halon systems have now been banned , not because of crew safety but to protect the Ozone layer. Below link on why Halon was banned.

https://assets.publishing.service.go...284/mgn191.pdf

Sailed on several RoRo's had Halon systems but they were removed in dry dock and CO2 installed.

Only time I ever sailed with steam smothering system, it was only fitted to the scavenge space on the main engine. The thinking at the time was that CO2 being cold on discharge could lead to other engine damage. In later years it was replaced by CO2 injection bottles placed within the engine scavenge area.

Thing about CO2 is there is less property damage and makes clear up/clean up easier.

As a rule the only person permitted to discharge CO2 was a person of senior rank , usually the Chief Engineer, but all engineering staff should be familiar how to use it.

CO2 is usually carried in bottles,it means you can either discharge individual bottles or total release.
Been a while but I think if you were going for total release there was a pilot bottle and this discharged into the bottle manifolds which led to all the bottles being opened at once as there was a Bursting disc puntured.

Not sure how often but as part of the safety inspection checks (6 monthly)? the sytem was isolated and all valves operated to check for freedom of movement. Compressed air put through the system to the CO2 nozzles throughout the spaces checked that they were clear off obstructions, scale/rust etc.

[John Arton]

James
That fire retardant stuff they drop from planes, wonder if it bares any relation to the dry powder extinguisher that we had at sea. They were mainly in the accommodation or to cover electrical switchboard.
Re. Co2 total smothering, under SOLAS they have to be inspected and tested annually by a suitably authorised person/company, to include level checking of the individual bottles, either by weighing or using a level checking device.
The system includes a remote operating station that when the door to the station is opened the distinct audible alarm sounds.
Inside the cabinet are two levers and co2 bottles, lever one discharges the pilot bottles but no co2 is released into the space, that only happens when the second lever is operated. At annual inspection the manual valve situated between the bottle bank in the pipeline leading to the engine room, should be shut to prevent any accidental discharge of co2 entering the space it was designed to protect.
Ships staff should check that these shore maintenance companies have left the system in an operational state, especially that manual valve is in the open position.
Rgds
J.A

[James Curry]

Yes John , agree I have on occassion assisted the service technician. It was a better way to get familiar with how the system was operated and maintained.
Some things stick with you concerning ships but with me it is drifting from my memory banks as the years go by.

[happy daze john in oz]

On the Windsor in Durban when the Donkey Boiler took fire.
Sitting next to a settling tank we were told.
It took over an hour to bring it under control.
Never did find out what caused it but know all on board were sent ashore and sat for almost two hours before coming back on board.
Back in Uk a new one was installed at some considerable effort.