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Ship Fire News

04 Jan 2024

Public Hearing Scheduled for Deadly Newark Ship Fire

New York City Fire Department personnel respond to a fire on the motor vessel Grande Costa D’Avorio in Port Newark, New Jersey, July 6, 2023. (Photo: Dan Henry / U.S. Coast Guard)

The U.S. Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board will conduct a formal public hearing this month to consider evidence related to a deadly fire that occurred aboard the Italian-flagged cargo vessel, Grande Costa D’Avorio, while docked at the Port of Newark, N.JThe hearing, slated to take place January 10-12 and 16-18 at the Union Township City Council Chambers in Union, N.J., will be open to the public, as well as broadcast live and recorded. It will focus on the condition of the Grande Costa D’Avorio prior to and at the time of the fire…

12 Jul 2023

Ship Fire at Port Newark Extinguished

U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Zeita Merchant, the captain of the port and federal on-scene coordinator, addresses in front of the Grande Costa D’Avorio in Port Newark, New Jersey, July 11, 2023. (U.S Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Mikaela McGee)

The Unified Command consisting of the U.S. Coast Guard, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Newark Fire Department, and Gallagher Marine Systems has successfully concluded shipboard fire response operations at Port Newark and is transitioning to the investigation and salvage operations.The Grimaldi cargo vessel Grande Costa D’Avorio caught fire Wednesday night around 9:30PM at the Port of Newark, an incident in which two firefighters died Thursday. As of the morning of July 11…

13 Oct 2022

Grandweld Delivers Four New Tugs for Shuwaikh Port

(Photo: Robert Allan Ltd.)

Grandweld Shipyard in Dubai has delivered four new tractor tugs for operations in Kuwait’s Shuwaikh Port.The four TRAktor 2700-Z vessels Ghanim-1, Ghanim-2, Ghanim-3 and Ghanim-4 were designed by Robert Allan Ltd., who worked closely with the Grandweld Shipyard to develop the customized design of the previously built 27-meter TRAktor tug series. The tugs were engineered to perform multiple tasks including ship assist, escort, towing, fire fighting, oil pollution response and others.Each vessel is powered by two Caterpillar 3512C main engines…

12 Sep 2022

US Navy Withholding Court Records in High-profile Ship Fire Case

Responders battle a fire on board the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) at Naval Base San Diego in July 2020. (Photo: Garrett LaBarge / US. Navy)

The U.S. Navy accused a sailor of setting the 2020 fire on the USS Bonhomme Richard, but it refuses to release records in the case as the law requires.Despite a 2016 law requiring more transparency of court-martials, the U.S. Navy is refusing to release nearly all court documents in a high-profile case in which a sailor faces life in prison.Seaman Recruit Ryan Mays, 21, has been charged with aggravated arson and hazarding a vessel in the 2020 fire that destroyed the USS Bonhomme Richard.

07 Jun 2022

Marine Insurance: Cargo Fires are a Burning Issue for Shipping

Copyright burnstuff2003/AdobeStock

Commercial insurer Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty released its Safety & Shipping Review, an annual analysis of shipping losses and accidents worldwide. The 2022 report reveals that the maritime sector continues its long-term positive safety trend over the past year with 54 total losses of vessels reported globally, compared with 65 a year earlier. This represents a 57% decline over 10 years (127 in 2012); while during the early 1990s the global fleet was losing 200+ vessels a year.The 2021 loss total is made more impressive by the fact that there are an estimated 130…

22 Mar 2022

Med Marine Delivers New Tug to Kenya Port Authority

(Photo: Robert Allan Ltd.)

Kenya Port Authority's new tug,  Mwokozi II, was delivered to her home port of Mombasa on January 10, 2022.The Mwokozi II is a custom design 42-meter, 120 tonne bollard pull RAstar 4200 salvage and harbor tug developed by Robert Allan Ltd., with particularly outstanding performance in maneuvering, seakeeping, and stability.The Turkish shipbuilder Med Marine was contracted to build the new tugboat at its group owned Eregli Shipyard. The keel was laid on March 23, 2020, and construction…

04 Feb 2022

Grandweld Building New Tugs for Kuwait Ports

(Photo: Robert Allan Ltd.)

Dubai shipbuilder Grandweld Shipyards held a keel laying ceremony for two of total four high-performance TRAktor 2700-Z tugs, on January 26, 2022.The tugs were ordered by Specialities Construction for General Trading and Contracting Company (SCC) and will be operated by Kuwait Ports Authority (KPA) in Kuwait’s Shuwaikh Port. Expected to enter service by August 2022, the tugs can perform multiple tasks including ship assist, escort, towing, fire fighting, oil pollution response and others.Robert Allan Ltd.

19 Nov 2021

First RAstar 2800-CL ASD Escort Tug Delivered

(Photo: Robert Allan Ltd.)

Svitzer Suez 1, the first RAstar 2800-CL ASD escort tug, has been delivered to Svitzer Egypt LLC by Cheoy Lee Shipyards and will soon commence operations in the Suez Canal. Svitzer are the first owners of this new escort tug design and a further nine tugs to this design have already been ordered with Cheoy Lee.The RAstar 2800-CL design started with a “blank sheet of paper”, according to naval architecture firm Robert Allan Ltd., who said one of the primary goals of the design was to make it extremely flexible allowing for various propulsion machinery options…

20 Oct 2021

Series of Failures After Fire Led to Destruction of USS Bonhomme Richard

A fire broke out on board USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) at Naval Base San Diego, in July 2020. (Photo: Austin Haist / U.S. Navy)

A U.S. Navy investigation released on Wednesday found that a fire aboard a warship last year, which was caused by arson, was preventable and that a series of failures after it started led to the destruction of the ship.More than 60 people, including about 40 sailors, were treated for minor injuries during several days of fighting flames on the 844-foot-long (257-meter) amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard, which was docked for maintenance at its home port at U.S. Naval Base San Diego.A U.S.

23 Jul 2021

Kuwait Oil Company gets a new Oil Spill Recovery/Offshore Support Vessel

Image courtesy Robert Allan Ltd.

The 60m RAmpage 6000-ZM vessel Koc Al Zour, built by Uzmar Shipyard, will be the largest Robert Allan Ltd. design ever built in Turkey. She is designed and constructed as a modern double azimuth stern drive (ASD) and is the most capable multipurpose oil spill recovery and offshore support vessel Kuwait Oil Company has ever ordered.The vessel is equipped to undertake operations such as oil spill response, oil spill containment and recovery, area surveillance, offshore fire fighting…

09 Dec 2020

Top Maritime Trends of 2020: Tackling the Scourge of Containership Fires

“One troubling statistic is that on average there is a fire onboard a container ship every week, with a major container fire occurring on average every 60 days.” (Photo: Indian Coast Guard)

The proliferation of serious fires onboard container ships in recent years has shocked the shipping industry. Here we examine the causes and impact of such fires and the urgent efforts being made by a wide variety of stakeholders to solve this seemingly intractable problem.Over the last decade there has been a 70% fall in ship total losses[1]. This has been widely credited to long term improvements in ship safety management and loss prevention programs. Counter to this trend, there has been a substantial increase in the number of fires in containers carried onboard container and RoRo ships.

01 Dec 2020

Maritime Training: Non-Traditional Maritime Simulation

A screenshot from the RS simulation suite. Image: VSTEP

Our COVID-19 maritime world continues to change as our perspectives on education and training with the availability of online learning and conferencing, an increased use of webinars, and the use of simulation technology must evolve if we are to be able to continue to train and maintain skill sets as we navigate the current and predicted restrictions on movement. Changes made now may eventually become fully integrated in to future iterations of training in many industries.An increasing…

16 Jul 2020

All Known Fires Extinguished Aboard USS Bonhomme Richard

A sailor looks at firefighting gear laid out in front of the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6). (U.S. Navy Photo by Natalie M. Byers)

Firefighters have extinguished a major ship fire that burned for more than four days aboard USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) moored pier side at Naval Base San Diego, the Navy said Thursday afternoon.Rear Adm. Philip Sobeck, Commander of U.S. Navy Expeditionary Strike Group 3, said all known fires have been extinguished on board as fire teams continue to search the 844-foot-long Wasp-class amphibious assault ship to cool hot spots and ensure no other fires remain.The vessel is listing…

10 Feb 2020

RAL's 3 RAstar 3300 Tugs for GPHA

Canadian naval architectural firm Robert Allan Ltd (RAL) announced that  the TOR Group  shipyard in Tuzla Bay (Istanbul) has delivered the Ben Owusu-Mensah, the third of three RAstar 3300 tugs for Ghana Ports & Harbours Authority (GPHA).The new tugs are equipped to fulfill a multitude of missions for the GPHA, including but not limited to ship-assist, fire-fighting, and pollution response, said a press release from the ship designer."Driven by high speed engines and Z-drive propellers, the Ben Owusu-Mensah and its sisters comfortably meet all contractual performance requirements, including the achievement of 82 tonnes of bollard pull and speeds in excess of 14 knots on trial…

21 Jan 2020

Jiangsu Zhenjiang Delivers Dual Fuel Tug

Jiangsu Zhenjiang Shipyard in China has delivered Yong Gang Xiao Tuo 60, a dual fuel RAstar 3800-DF tug, to Ningbo Zhoushan Port Company Ltd.According to a release from the naval architectural firm Robert Allan, this first ever RAstar 3800-DF tug is the 10th custom designed vessel by Robert Allan Ltd. in close collaboration with Ningbo Port Company. The vessel is also the first Robert Allan Ltd. designed dual-fuel tug to operate in China.The new RAstar 3800-DF tug is powered by a pair of Niigata 8L28AHX-DF dual-fuel engines, each rated for 2,389 kW at 800 rpm, and driving Kongsberg US 255 CP 2.8 meter diameter controllable pitch Z-drives. Bollard pull recorded on trials met all expectations and is certified as 80.3 tonnes ahead.

05 Nov 2019

Eastern Launches RApport2400 Tug

Eastern Shipbuilding Group, a shipbuilder based in Panama City, Florida, has recently launched the RApport 2400 tug C.D. White, a ship-assist / escort tug for E.N. Bisso & Son Inc. of New Orleans LA.Designed by Robert Allan Ltd. it is first of two tugs of the same design being built by Eastern for E.N. Bisso. The tug is designed and built to USCG Subchapter M.Though very similar to the tug Gladys B, delivered in to E.N. Bisso in 2016, the design incorporates modifications in order to better accommodate the owner’s operational requirements, regulatory changes and different main machinery."The vessel has been designed to the highest standards of outfitting for an operating crew of up to six.

05 Jul 2019

Two RAstar 3200 Vessels Christened in HK

Hongkong Salvage & Towage, a division of HUD Group, has added two new high-performance tugs to their fleet.A press release from Robert Allan Ltd.(RAL) said that RAstar 3200 vessels, designed by RAL, which are named MAI PO and SUNG KONG, are the most powerful harbor tugs operating in Hong Kong harbour.The tugs were built by Cheoy Lee Shipyards and join four other Robert Allan Ltd. designs, also built by Cheoy Lee, it said."The RAstar escort/offshore terminal tug designation is reserved for a distinctive class of very high-performance ASD tugs," claimed RAL.The tugs are designed and built in accordance with Lloyd’s Register of Shipping.The tugs exceeded the Owner’s requirements at sea trials…

15 May 2019

Ship Fire off Mallorca Mostly Extinguished

Spanish emergency services have largely put out a fire aboard a vehicle transport ship off the island of Mallorca after some of the crew were airlifted to safety earlier on Wednesday.The Sea Rescue Society posted a short video on Twitter showing fire ships spraying water over a small section of the covered upper decks of the Italian-flagged "Grande Europa", which had been blackened by the flames, but had no smoke or fire coming out of it.It said 15 out of the 25-strong crew had been taken off the ship by helicopter and were safe, and the fire had been "practically extinguished by three rescue ships and the vessel's own anti-fire systems".The Balearic Islands Emergency Service said the rest of the crew had remained on board helping to combat the fire.

04 Apr 2019

Gulf Island Delivers Z-Tech Tugs

American manufacturer Gulf Island Shipyards has completed the second of 10 Z-Tech 30-80 tugs, five of which were ordered by Suderman & Young Towing Co.Once completed, these tugs will be operated in ports on the Texas Gulf Coast by G&H Towing Co, said a press release from Robert Allan Ltd.The Z-Tech 30-80 tug Ted C. Litton evolved from the previous Z-Tech 7500 design for Suderman & Young. Designed and built with a sponsoned hull form, escort capability of the tug is significantly enhanced.The design incorporates the best handling and operational characteristics of both Z-drive tractor tugs, Azimuthing Stern-Drive (ASD) tugs and the unique RAstar series hull form.The new Z-Tech series tugs are intended for operation primarily in major ports and marine terminals.

03 Feb 2019

Maersk Container Ship Fire

A fire broke out in the engine room on board Maersk’s Panamax containership Olga Maersk last week. The incident happened while the vessel was en route from Panama to Cartagena.An official press release from the operator of the ship Hamburg Süd said: "We regret to advise that on January 29th a fire in the engine room on board the vessel “Olga Maersk” was reported while the vessel was on route from Panama to Cartagena. All crew on board the vessel are safe and accounted for."The fire, which was contained to the engine room, has been extinguished following fire fighting procedures, it said.Container ship Olga Maersk (dwt 41028) with capacity 3028 TEU is built in 2003 and flagged in Denmark.The ship is moored in Puerto de Cristobal, Panama, according to data obtained from Marine Traffic.

24 Jan 2019

Survitec Receives DNV GL Certification

British manufacturer of  marine safety and survival equipments Survitec has received DNV GL Z-17 certification as a class-approved service provider for all DNV-GL classed vessels operating various brands of safety and survival equipment, including lifeboats, liferafts, marine evacuation systems (MES) and fire-fighting equipment and breathing apparatus.“The certification means that all Survitec sites carrying out work on lifeboats, fire-fighting equipment, SCBA and LSA to ships and mobile offshore units (MOU) to SOLAS standards are included in the Z-17 approval,” said Mats Hestmann, Group Quality, Health and Safety Manager, Survitec.“Survitec is also approved to carry out class-approved annual inspections services…

18 Apr 2018

UZMAR Joins Robert Allan Century Club

UZMAR SHIPYARD of Turkey has officially joined the Robert Allan Ltd. Century Club, with construction underway on its 100th tug to a Robert Allan Ltd. design. This new tug is a RAstar 3200-W destined for service on Canada’s West Coast with SAAM-SMIT Canada. This milestone tug, expected to be delivered in early 2019, represents the state-of-the-art in the design and construction of ASD escort tugs in a sub-500 GRT hull. With its RAstar hull and deep skeg, the design is optimized for generating high indirect escort forces and is also capable of providing towing operations from the stern. The tug features gas detection, explosion-proof deck equipment, off-ship fire-fighting capability, and one of the first applications of an IMO Tier III emissions compliant propulsion package on a tug.

18 Apr 2018

Eight Robert Allan Tugs for Persero

PT Pelabuhan Indonesia III (Persero) has taken delivery of the first eight, of a total 15, RAzer ASD tugs designed by Robert Allan Ltd. The two RAzer 2960, two RAzer 2935 and four RAzer 2940 tugs are part of a major terminal expansion and fleet renewal program undertaken by Pelindo III in its operational territory. The RAzer 2960s and RAzer 2935s were built by PT Daya Radar Utama Shipyards in Jakarta, Indonesia, and the RAzer 2940s were built by PT Dumas Tanjung Perak Shipyards in Surabaya, Indonesia. These will be the first Robert Allan Ltd. tugs to be designed specifically to operate from major ports in Indonesia, including the new container port of Terminal Teluk Lamong, near Surabaya.

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