Car Carrier Catches Fire at Antwerp Dock

[westhinder]

Those fire fighters in Antwerp must've used one heck of a lot of CO2. Where would they get it from?

140 tons of it, according to the fire brigade spokeswoman.
I should imagine that getting hold of CO2 in Antwerp cannot be that much of a problem, as it is the largest chemical cluster in Europe, with all manner of refineries, chemical plant etc, who would only be too glad to get rid of some CO2 without paying taxes.
The CO2 has served its purpose, as the fire has been declared under control and firefighters are hoping to be able to enter the ship tomorrow

 

[Mariner69]

To give some perspective to the fire fighting, I had a fire in a hold of a cape size bulk carrier that contained South African coal. The Third Officer had switched on the low temperature hold lights to see what was going on and had forgot to switch them off again. The fact that you couldn't see beyond the end of your nose from all the coal dust in the air hadn't crossed his mind. Any event a couple at days at sea and we had brown smoke pouring from the hold.

We went into Cape Town and a hole was drilled in the side of the ship to allow a lance to be inserted and 21 tonnes of liquid nitrogen was introduced to the space using an industrial sized cooling unit (well heating actually but with all the ice on it....). Once we thought the fire was extinguished entry was made with breathing apparatus and one terrified idiot, me, found the seat of the fire with his knee. My Anglo Saxon comments were audible through my face mask and the steel of the hatch so I was told later. We dug out the hot spot and it was one bucket full. I was astonished that such a small fire could generate so much smoke and heat. Bit like politicians I suppose. The coal whilst combustible is also a good insulator.

In a ro-ro vessel you have much large volumes of free air to feed the fire and it is difficult to seal the spaces off; hence the large amount of gas used.