Fire left ice ship drifting for hours: ATSB report finds
An ice breaker with more than 100 people aboard was left drifting for hours after a fire in its engine room deep in the Southern Ocean. FULL REPORT >>
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A fire aboard an Antarctic icebreaker left the vessel drifting in the Southern Ocean without propulsion for seven hours, an Australian Transport Safety Bureau report has found.
Expeditioners joined the MPV Everest’s crew in fighting the fire, which knocked out the ship’s port engine room on April 3 this year.
The blaze broke out aboard the Australian Antarctic Division chartered vessel when it was around 2,500 nautical miles southwest of Hobart with 37 crew and 72 expeditioners aboard.
The Bahamas-registered ship was returning after resupplying the Davis and Mawson research stations in east Antarctica.
Large flames were seen erupting from the ship’s port engine room after a routine fuel transfer to top-up an oil settling tank around 11am, the ATSB’s preliminary report said,
“The flames quickly engulfed two rubber watercraft and equipment stowed inboard of the exhaust vent casing and set them alight,” it said.
“The master hurried up to the bridge and raised the alarm by announcing on the ship’s public address system that there was a fire, instructing crew and expedition staff to report to their emergency muster stations.”
“A few minutes later, number 6 engine in the starboard engine room also shut down due to being overloaded, and all power, including propulsion, was lost.
“Limited electrical power was restored using the emergency generator but there were problems with its use, including its location near the flames from the exhaust casing.”
The crew scrambled to contain the fire, which was contained to the engine room with the help of the fixed water mist fire-extinguishing system
“A team of two crew equipped with fireman suits, self-contained breathing apparatus and fire hoses attempted to shut the louvered fire dampers on the outside of the casing with limited success,” the report said.
“Some expedition staff also joined the firefighting efforts by manning some hoses.
“The chief engineer, electro-technical officer and an expedition staff member with professional firefighting experience ashore ... entered the engine room equipped with fireman suits, SCBA sets, a charged hose and a fire extinguisher.
“They confirmed that the fire had been extinguished and safely exited the engine room.”
The mustered expeditioners were stood down around 2pm.
There were no injuries and propulsion was restored at 6.20pm using the starboard engine room.
The ship returned to Freemantle on April 13 without further incident. Investigations into the origin and cause of the fire are continuing.
At the time of the fire, the Antarctic Division said the fire was quickly extinguished and the ship had maintained “full power capabilities”.
Originally published as Fire left ice ship drifting for hours: ATSB report finds
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