LSA & Fire Flashcards
How many of each LSA equipment do you require onboard?
See attached
Talk about the UK conformity standards
Following Brexit, safety equipment placed on UK flagged ships must comply with UK conformity standards. Marine Equipment Directive (MED) approved equipment which was placed onboard before 1st January 2023 can serve out its working life.
Considerations when recovering persons from the water
SOLAS requires a ship specific plan to be in place for the recovery of persons from the water. It should include:
- Risk assessment
- Possible recovery problems and considerations: survivors may be in the water, large number of people, small craft vulnerable next to the ship
-Plan for recovery: who, how, equipment available, actions once onboard
- Providing assistance prior to recovery: dropping LSA equipment such as life buoys, life jackets, detection aids, survival aids etc
- Recovery process: getting people to the ship, on the ship and dealing with them after
- Standing by when people cannot be recovered
- Immediate care for casualties: Shelter, treat for hypothermia, clothign etc
What information is contained on a muster list?
- Details of alarms and emergency signals. General = 7 or more short + 1 long, fire = continuous, abandon ship = verbal command
- Actions by each crewmember in response to a specific emergency. Includes closing watertight doors, openings etc, preparing LSA equipment and survival craft
- Reporting channels and chains of communication
- Mustering and managing of guests, ensuring adequatly dressed and donned life jacket
- Substitutes
- Survival craft launching station
- Who is responsible for maintaining LSA and FFE equipment
Vessel listing over and likely to sink - actions?
- Attempt to stem the flow of water to give more time to abandonship
- Muster all crew and passengers at assigned positions
- Determine stability of the vessel and determine whether to abandon ship
- Verbal command by Master
- Launch life rafts - embarkation on leeward side
- Upon entering life raft, ensure life raft leader is assigned and 50% split in life rafts
- Cut, stream, maintain and post lookouts for additional survivors in the water
- Allocate duties and sea sickness pills
What does an EPIRB do?
Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon
- Transmits a distress message up to the COPSAS SARSAT satellite network on 406mhz
- Message relayed to a LES which relay to the appropriate MRCC
- MRCC will send assistance and will locate using 121.5mhz
Weekly and monthly checks
Weekly:
- Visual inspection of launching equipment including onload/offload hook
- Rescue boat engine runs for a minimum of 3 minutes including forward and astern
- PA and general alarm
- Fixed fire detection panels
- Fixed gas fire extinguishing systems
- Breathing apparatus and EEBD
- Low location lighting
Monthly:
- Visual inspeciton of all LSA equipment
- Launch rescue boat and check contents
- Fire mains, fire pumps, hydrants, hoses and nozzles
- Fixed gas fire extinguishing sustems
- Foam fire extinguishing systems
- Fire fighters outfit
- Portable foam applicators (AFFF)
- Wheeled mobile foam extinguishers
- Fixed fire detection and alarm systems
Quarterly:
- International shore connection
- Foam fire extinguishing systems - proper quantity
- Ventillation/fire dampers
- Test all fire doors
Annual:
- Sample fire hoses so all tested within a year
- Verify galley ducts and filters are free of grease build up
- Test all fire doors remotely
- Air quality test of air compressor
- Applicators are set to
Characteristics of a Red Rocket Flare
Red Rocket Flare:
- Red
- 300m height
- Can be seen for more than 30nm on a clear night
- Burns for 40 seconds
Functional requirements for the fire safety of a ship
- Division of the ship into main vertical and horizontal zones by structural boundaries
- Separation of the accommodation spaces from the remainder of the ship
- Restricted use of combustible materials
- Detection of fire in any zone
- Containment and extinction of fire in space of origin
- Ready availability of fire extinguishing appliances
- Minimization of possibility of ignition of flammable cargo vapour
How is fire safety legislation implemented on vessels
Statuory Instrument: The Merchant Shipping (Fire Protection: Large Ships) Regulations 1998
MSN 1665: The Merchant Shipping Fire Protection Regulations 1998: Fire Fighting Equipment
Requirements for vessels 500GT and over
- Two fire pumps capable of dispersing water to any part of the vessel
- Fire extinguishers which are readily available for use in any part of the accommodation space, service spaces and control stations
- Fixed fire fighting systems in cargo and machinery spaces
- Paint locker has fixed fire fighting system
- Breathing Apparatus
- International shore connection
What is meant by A-60?
Constructed to prevent the passage of smoke and flame after 60 minutes of exposure to a standard fire test.
Fire doors are able to operate at temperatures of at least 200 degrees celsius for at least 60 mins
Fire onboard - actions?
Person who finds the fire:
- Raise the alarm/inform the bridge
- If possible, tackle the fire immediately
OOW:
- Raise the general/fire alarm
- Call the Master
- Reduce speed
- Fix position
- Close watertight and fire doors
- Shut down ventilation
- Wait for Master to take con
Master:
- Take the con following full report from the OOW
- Check for crew/passenger head count
- Establish communication with OSC
- Organise fire fighting activities
- Boundary cooling to be started
- Pumping arrangements on standby
- Fuel shut offs
- Order activation of fixed fire systems where required
- Communications with the outside world
- Mayday or urgency
- Consider weather and stability criteria as appropriate
- Log of all events and decisions made
- Reduce the smoke effect by altering course and speed
- Consider abandoning ship
What equipment is powered by the emergency generator?
- Muster/embarkation/emergency lighting
- Navigation lights
- GMDSS equipment
- Internal communications
- Ships navigation equipment
- Fire detection/alarm systems
- Signalling lights
- Fire pumps
- Steering gear
