A fire broke out in the lower cargo hold of a general cargo ship whilst berthed2. The fire started during hot work to remove sea fastenings from the tween deck in preparation for cargo discharge operations.
The investigation identified the operators had not effectively implemented the safety management system hot work permit procedures and fundamental risk controls such as maintaining a continuous fire watch and protecting combustible cargo with fire retardant coverings to prevent the spread of fire. Items of cargo stowed in the lower hold below the work site were not adequately assessed as a fire risk and protected before starting the hot work. Of concern is that lessons learnt from previous similar incidents were not properly considered, noting this was the tenth fire-related incident on the company’s ships in the past 14 years.
2 ATSB (2022). Fire on board BBC Rhonetal. Marine Occurrence Investigation MO-2021-002