With hazardous cargo such as oil and gas continuing to dominate the region's sea freight industry, companies must take active measures to reduce the risk of a fire hazard.
The consequences of a fire on board a vessel or at the port can be destructive - with the effects of damage to staff, cargo and company reputation continuing for many years to come. Regulations to control fire hazards have been put forward by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) such as the SOLAS (International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea), to control the risk of a fire hazard occurring and ensure that the damage it causes is kept to a minimum.
The IMO itself has a long history of fire protection requirements. The latest developments include the Fire Test Procedures Code (FTP code), which entered into force in 1998, and included international requirements for lab testing, type approval and fire test procedures for passenger and cargo ships and tankers.
In 2002, the IMO released a completely revised, more user-friendly, SOLAS chapter II-2, focusing on the ‘fire scenario process' - with regulations covering preventing, detection and suppression to escape. A key part of the new chapter focuses on the ‘human element' of fire protection, namely the need for adequate staff training, drills and additional maintenance issues.
Whilst fire protection usually conjures up the usual images of extinguishers and firefighters with hoses, a core aspect of any company's fail-proof fire protection strategy involves this often overlooked people factor. Steen Davidsen, CEO of APM Terminals Bahrain, agrees. "Companies need to constantly remind and train staff in all safety aspects," he says.
The port operator prides itself in taking a proactive approach to fire safety. "We consider the potential fire risks, including the risk of ignition of dangerous cargo, hot work being carried out within the facility and on vessels, electrical wiring faults, and even the careless disgorging of cigarette butts," says Davidsen.
In order to reduce these risks, the terminal meticulously monitors the import of both dangerous goods, and those that are potentially dangerous, entering or leaving the port. "We also arrange with the agents to deliver potentially dangerous cargo directly to the importers, thus avoiding storage at the port," he adds.
All hot work that takes place within the port facility has to be agreed and approved by the harbour master and HSSE manager. "Electrical insulations are inspected by the department's safety representatives on a regular basis, and smoking rules are enforced by the safety and security patrols," says Davidsen. In addition to fire evacuation drills, the terminal has an emergency response vehicle, crewed by trained fire fighters, to deal with any fire that may occur.
The need for such stringent measures has become increasingly important for ports, particularly as the occurrence of fire incidents on land has been considerably higher than those at sea. Just last month, Port Khalid in Sharjah witnessed its second major fire in the past two years at an oil storage depot on site, shutting down all port operations.
The incident echoed a similar fire which occurred last summer in a lubricants warehouse at the port. Around the same time, DP World's Jebel Ali Port in Dubai was subject to an explosion at one of its chemical storage facilities.
Whilst both the incidents occurred at storage facilities rather than during the handling of cargo at the port, they have hammered home the message to the region's maritime industry of the exceptional importance of protection against fire.
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