2011X20 Fire Accommodation

- Republic of Vanuatu.
- Official Report No. 7012.

This Official Report was conducted on behalf of the Deputy Commisioner of Maritime Affairs for the Republic of Vanuatu and concerns an accommodation fire aboard a general cargo ship in the port of Campana. The attempts of the cabin occupier, other crew and the shore fire brigade did not prevent, what started off as a relatively small fire, destroying almost the entire accommodation, fittings, cabling, panels and bridge equipment.

Summaries of Statements

The 2nd steward, in whose cabin the fire occurred, had only been on the ship for a few days. Prior to that his only experience had been on tugs and passenger vessels on the Danube. He stated that he went ashore for a couple of hours during the evening, during which time he had one beer. He returned to the vessel at about 2245, went to the crew mess, spoke with some other crew members and had a cigarette. He did not drink anything else and retired to his cabin at 2300. He was not smoking, although he usually smoked between 10 and 15 cigarettes a day, and sometimes smoked in his cabin, but not on the night in question. He went to sleep immediately on the lower bunk, the upper bunk was never used. He claims he did not have a cigarette either before going to bed or while in bed.

He awoke shortly after midnight to the smell of smoke. He switched on the bunk light and found the cabin full of smoke. He jumped out of bed and saw flames at the foot of the upper bunk, he could not see the exact source of the flames but they appeared to be coming from the mattress, not from the bulkhead or elsewhere. He started to beat the flames with a towel but the smoke became so dense that he had to go to the open porthole for air. He eventually found the door, opened it, and returned to beat the flames at which time the watchman arrived. The watchman cried "fire", got an extinguisher and pushed the 2nd steward out of the way so that he could fight the fire. The 2nd steward awoke the occupant of the adjacent cabin and then went around knocking on doors and bulkheads and crying "fire". When he got back to the cabin the other crew members were running up the interior ladder and onto the deck. He was unable to re-enter the cabin because of the smoke and the escaping crew members. He could not offer an opinion as to the cause of the fire. The only items on the upper bunk apart from the mattress were the "T" shirt he had worn that day and another ready for use the following day. He could not remember if the "T" shirts had pockets, if the one he had been wearing had a pocket it could have contained his cigarettes and lighter.

The duty watchman had also joined the vessel a few days before but had first gone to sea in 1966. He started his watch at 0001 and, as no cargo was being worked his duties were to perform a security tour of the vessel and check the mooring ropes. He had completed one round of the vessel and found everything in order. At approximately 0020 he was standing at the door of the crew mess when he smelled smoke. He saw smoke coming from the ladder which led down to the accommodation on the main deck. He ran down the ladder and saw thick smoke coming from the 2nd steward's open cabin door, the 2nd steward was beating flames with a towel. After alerting other crew members, he grabbed a portable fire extinguisher and directed it at the fire. The fire was intense with a lot of smoke, most intense near the foot of the upper bunk. Some crew members handed him another extinguisher and whilst he was discharging this he heard the fire alarm ringing. By the time the second extinguisher was empty the fire had spread all round the cabin. The smoke forced him out, he did not have time to close the cabin door, or even to think about it.

The Chief Engineer (CE) stated he was awoken shortly after midnight by the fire alarm and knocking at his door. He took the spare key of the CO2 room and ran to the open deck, on the way he saw dense smoke in the passageway. There were a number of crew members connecting hoses, they told him the fire was on the starboard side of the main deck. He ordered the electrician to switch off the electricity to the accommodation, the lights had already gone out and there was nobody left in the accommodation, it was shortly after 0030. At about 0035 the Captain ordered the CE to shut down the ventilators to the engine room to prevent smoke and flames entering. The Captain also ordered the fire flaps situated on either side of the funnel to be closed. The CE decided to check the engine room to see if the OOW and motorman were all right. The engine room was full of smoke and they were escaping, they had not been able to start the fire pump or switch off the generators. The CE attempted to enter the engine room from the steering flat and to start the emergency fire pump which was situated near the steering flat but his way was also barred by smoke as the watertight doors had not been closed. He then returned to make sure that the CO2 was ready if needed. The CO2 room was near to the 2nd steward's cabin and by this time was intensely hot and the paint had started peeling off the bulkheads. The Captain ordered the crew to abandon ship and assist the fire brigade on the shore. The CE left the ship at 0040 and told the fire brigade the whereabouts of the fuel oil tanks and bottles of butane, oxygen and acetylene. The fire brigade moved the butane bottles to the stern and threw the oxygen and acetylene bottles over the side.

The Captain was awoken about 0020/0025 by the fire alarm and unusual noises. His cabin was covered in dense smoke although there was still some visibility. He went to the door but found dense smoke in the passageway and decided he could not leave that way, he returned to his cabin. He made several attempts to leave the cabin through the porthole on the starboard side and on to a ladder supplied by the crew but the ladder was too short. He was finally able to jump to a ladder on a nearby samson post but was injured in the attempt. He was not dressed and had no shoes on and could feel the deck was very hot, he made his way to the port side where crew members were connecting hoses under the supervision of the bosun. He instructed the CE to stop the engine room vents immediately. Some crew were trying to enter the accommodation with extinguishers but were driven back by the smoke. The Master ordered a crew count but this was not possible as everyone was moving about, although there was no sense of panic.

By approximately 0100 when the fire engines arrived, six or seven of the ship's hoses had been connected together but could not be used as the engine room had been evacuated before the fire pump had been switched on. The crew took six of the ship's hoses ashore but could not connect them to those of the fire brigade because they were of different diameter so they connected them to the fresh water supply on the quay. The first fire engine arrived without breathing apparatus but the firemen used the ship's equipment. The generator was eventually stopped by the 3rd engineer and a member of the fire brigade entering the engine room in breathing apparatus. By about 0130 a tug arrived to help fire fighting and about 15 engines were on the quay. At about 0230 a specialist fire team arrived from the nearby oil terminal, the team leader was an ex Captain and spoke English which helped the situation considerably. The fire burnt fiercely until being extinguished at about 1300 that day. Minor fires re-ignited during the afternoon but were soon dealt with.

The cause of the fire was not definitely established but it seems most likely that an improperly extinguished cigarette dropped on the top bunk or contained in the 2nd stewards clothing was the source. The fire rapidly ignited the plastic laminated plywood bulkheads and spread to the adjacent cabins. All fire fighting equipment was in apparent good order, having been surveyed by a major Classification Society the previous June. None of the reports mentioned the whereabouts of the international shore connection or the vessel's fire control plans. Fire drills had been held every Sunday and the fire pump had been tested and was in good order but could not be started because of the smoke. Each member of the crew had been assigned a particular job and were trained to use all the equipment including breathing apparatus. Tests were carried out to ascertain if the fire was caused by faulty wiring in the accommodation, the results of these tests show almost conclusively that was not the cause.
It would appear that the initial attempts of the crew were disorganised and not very effective. The weekly fire drills had not produced a good fire fighting team. It was some time before the fire alarm was sounded and the ship's breathing apparatus does not seem to have been brought into use before the fire brigade arrived. The fire brigade could only speak Spanish and there was a severe problem of communication. Repairs were estimated to cost $3,000,000. In spite of the fact that the main hull, cargo spaces and engine room were not damaged by the fire, the vessel was declared a total loss, sold and towed away for scrap.