There has been an increase in fire incidents reported to AMSA since 2020 (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Severity of fire-related incidents reported between 2018 and 2022
In 2021 there were 3 very serious and 11 serious fire incidents reported onboard foreign flagged vessels in Australian waters. In addition, 13.6% of all port State control detainable deficiencies in 2021 were fire safety related issues.
Figure 2: Breakdown of location of ship fires between 2018 and 2022
Most fires were initiated in machinery/workspaces, followed by cargo spaces. The Safety and Shipping Review 20221 identified cargo fires are often a result of mis-/non‑declaration of hazardous cargo, such as chemicals and batteries. If improperly packed and stowed onboard this can result in ignition and complication in detection and firefighting.
The increasing concern in this area has prompted a Tokyo Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and plans to commence a Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) focusing on fire safety, with AMSA intending to inspect vessels for fire safety from 1 September 2023 until 30 November 2023.
1 Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty AGCS (2022). Safety and Shipping Review 2022