Fire And Rescue Service News

A.P. Moller - Maersk's towage arm Svitzer has been fined £2 million ($2.4 million) in the U.K. after pleaded guilty to safely failures that led to a crewmember fatality.Svitzer Marine Ltd pleaded guilty to failing to operate a vessel safely and failing to provide a safe system of work, causing the “avoidable tragedy” of 62-year-old Ian Webb falling into the water, the U.K.'s Maritime and Coastguard Agency announced.Heard at Liverpool Crown Court on February 20, the tragic death sparked an investigation by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) which identified a number of Svitzer’s safety failures.On the evening of Webb’s death, January 27, 2019, Svitzer Marine’s tug Millgarth was cast off from the Tranmere north jetty, in the river Mersey, in storm force conditions.

The most important of all international maritime safety conventions is the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS). The first version was adopted at a conference in London in 1914. The catalyst for this conference was the sinking of the Titanic on her first voyage in April 1912, which cost the lives of more than 1,500 passengers. This was the beginning of the journey that put in place a regulatory framework to protect those who work and travel by sea.Whilst the sinking of the Titanic was not fire-related…

A Fire and Rescue Marine Response team was airlifted on board of the US car carrier, MV Honor, which caught fire in the English Channel after leaving Southampton headed for the USA at about 3.45am on Friday. The American Roll-On Roll-Off Carrier Shipping (ARC) vehicle carrier was en route to Baltimore, in the state of Maryland, USA from Southampton. 21 crew are on board. The vessel caught fire on cargo deck shortly after leaving Southampton in UK on 50 nautical miles northwest of Cherbourg. The UK Coastguard was contacted at 0345, and is now coordinating the incident. In a statement, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said the Honor’s fixed firefighting systems were used to attack the fire and the cargo space has been sealed.

A fire has broken out out aboard the U.S. car carrier Honor in the English Channel while the vessel was en route to Baltimore from Southampton on February 24. “The 21 crew are still on board the vessel and they are safe and well,” said Andy Jenkins, Commander for the U.K. Coastguard. The vessel’s fixed firefighting systems were used to attack the fire and the cargo space has been sealed. The ship’s crew continue to monitor the cargo area. The ship has full maneuverability and has turned back toward Southampton, where it is planned to anchor to the Southeast of the Isle of Wight. U.K. Coastguard said it is monitoring the situation closely and the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service has been notified of the incident.

A car carrier vessel has suffered a fire on one of its decks, approximately 40 miles off Harwich, the U.K. Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) reported. The U.S. flagged ship, Courage, reported the fire to the U.K. Coastguard at Dover Maritime Rescue Coordination Center just before 10 p.m., June 2. Using an inbuilt CO2 system to, crew members flooded a large area to put the fire out and continued their journey. The situation is currently contained. A Dover Coastguard RAF Wattisham helicopter was on standby, but was not needed. The vessel is now coming to Southampton where it is being monitored by the National Maritime Operations Center, MCA said.

A major exercise in implementing the national contingency plan for anti-pollution, search and rescue, and fire fighting has been held in the waters off Mahé, according to joint news from EUCAP Nestor & EUNAVFOR Atalanta. The scenario began with a mock distress call to the Coast Guard from a Seychelles flagged vessel that had collided with a ferry just off Glacis. The collision caused an oil leak and a fire on board the vessel. A number of crewmembers abandoned the ship as it started to sink. The Coast Guard immediately sent two speedboats and Patrol Vessel Topaz to the sinking ship, and asked the Seychelles Air Force to send an aircraft to the area.

A major exercise in implementing the national contingency plan for anti-pollution, search and rescue, and fire fighting was held in the waters off Mahé on 4 June. This complex exercise was carried out by a range of different agencies including the Seychelles Coast Guard, Air Force, Fire Fighting Services and Port Authority. The EUNAVFOR Atalanta Flagship Brandenburg also took part in the exercise, EUCAP Nestor experts provided support for the planning, preparations as well as its execution. The Seychelles Maritime Safety Authority and the Ministry of Environment and Energy  were also involved.

Maersk Training announced the launch of two new offshore emergency courses: the OPITO Helideck Emergency Response Team Member Training and the OPITO 6 Day Combined Helideck and Team Member Training. These two OPITO Accredited courses will kick start this month at the company’s training center in the northeast of Scotland and be delivered using a newly built Helicopter simulator and helideck. Following a significant financial investment last year, Maersk Training in Aberdeen has built a brand new Helicopter Simulator and Helideck fire ground to support its two new courses.

Liverpool Coastguard  had received a distress call from the cargo ship ‘Carrier’ telling them they had run aground at Raynes Jetty, Llanddulas (on the coast of Wales). A strong gale was blowing and a five metre swell was reported. Because of the location of the grounding Holyhead Coastguard coordinated the rescue. All seven of the Polish crew were taken uninjured from the ship by two rescue helicopters (the first from RNAS Prestwick, the second from RAF Leconfield). The A55 (road) was closed to allow the rescue services safe access to the vessel. Coastguard Rescue teams from Rhyl and Llandudno offered assistance to the rescued crew whilst the RNLI lifeboats from Llandudno and Rhyl launched.

The UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has launched the Maritime Incident Response Group (MIRG). The MIRG comprises 15 Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) teams strategically located around the country, with 50 fire fighters on each team. The personnel have been trained to tackle fires in the marine environment and provided with special equipment that is easily air-transportable. Source: HK Law