Fire in marina - 9 boats dead

Metabarca

Metabarca

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On Saturday, there was a major fire in the marina at Rovigno (Rovinj) in Istria. Nine boats were destroyed after a Slovene mobo caught fire. They suspect that what happened was this: the Slovene had left his boat for days with shore power plugged in. Something must have shorted or overheated and the slow combustion suddenly erupted once the superstructure was holed and air could get in. There was a loud roar at 5 am and flames immediately engulfed the two neighbouring boats. One had an Italian family aboard who saw their Bav badly damaged, but at least they got off with only minor injuries. The other was empty. Other marina users quickly slipped the lines of the Slovene boat but the warp soon melted and a breeze drove it against more boats on the other side of the channel. They also released the unattended mobo alongside the Slovene boat and this drifted out into the harbour before 500l of petrol caught and it exploded, sinking immediately. Total damages: in excess of 2 million euros.
The marina came in for some harsh criticism from the fire brigade because there were no hydrants on the pontoons and they had to run a line several hundred metres long. The director accepted the fault and said there had already been plans to remedy the problem. However, they also said that it was a standing rule that no-one was to leave their boat unnattended with shore power plugged in. With all that petrol and plastic about, it's not certain that the firefighters could have done much more even with water to hand more quickly.
FWIW, the local TV news in Friuli-Venezia Giulia surveyed all our local marinas (from Muggia to Lignano) and found all to be adequately supplied with functioning hydrants. Here too, the unplugging of shore power rule applies.

<hr width=100% size=1>Adriatic links here: <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.comoy.com/saillinks.html>http://www.comoy.com/saillinks.html</A><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by Metabarca on 18/08/2004 07:55 (server time).</FONT></P>
 
Terrible ... but

sad fact that many have their boats plugged in charging batterys etc. while away, plus all the gizmos etc.

How do you maintain your boat - especially if like me - you are away a lot and not able to spend each w/end running upengine and using boat etc.

I have fitted as much safeguard as possible - trips and breakers etc. What else can be done ????

OK - so I may be first to admit above - but there are many more out there that will probably hide away and not decalre themselves.


<hr width=100% size=1>Nigel ... and of course Yahoo groups :
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gps-navigator/
 
Re: Terrible ... but

Big mistake. I believe standard procedure in these situations is NOT to let go the vessel on fire. Fire fighters have no chance of dealing with it once the vessel is floating away. Standard rule is to evacuate the area and leave it to the fire fighters to deal with.

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Re: Terrible ... but

I know, it's a bit head-scratching, isn't it? After all, when I leave my house for a few days, I don't pull the master switch. Who would?! Is it so hard to ensure power to boats is 100% safe? Or is the problem that most shore-power fittings are, let's say, 'home-made' and don't have proper circuit breakers etc.?

<hr width=100% size=1>Adriatic links here: <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.comoy.com/saillinks.html>http://www.comoy.com/saillinks.html</A>
 
Thank God most boats in the UK are diesel!! We only have to worry about gas cylinders going BANG.....

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://static.photobox.co.uk/public/images/45/99/10714599.s.jpg>Nirvana</A>
 
Re: Terrible ... but

I would agree, best to move the near by boats that are not on fire rather than cut loose a fire ship to do its worst.

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It's irrelevent whether its petrol, diesel or LPG once it's well alight it's going to burn. GRP burns very well on its own before you add any fuel. Even auto engine bay extingushers will be overwhelmed at this point.

<hr width=100% size=1>Jim

Draco 2500
 
"It's irrelevent whether its petrol, diesel or LPG once it's well alight it's going to burn" Err, not in my opinion and neither in <A target="_blank" HREF=http://static.photobox.co.uk/public/images/45/99/10714599.s.jpg>Nirvana
 
The owner of the late Sheer Grace was based on the Hamble and is a friend of ours. The boat in question had it's fuel tanks in the engine bay at point of build. Between the fuel tank and the engine ran the wiring loom. It so happens that he suspected a electrical fault caused the fire in the first place.

In my youth I worked on supertankers and other fuel carrying vessels and in my experience the ships carrying diesel were a greater risk because the diesel burns at a higher temp. than petroleum or LPG.

LPG flashes on ignition, Petrol vapours burn not the liquid, hence the flash of a petrol fire, but diesel oil burns slow and very hot and is very difficult to extinguish.

I guess the moral of the story is keep your fuel tanks away from any source of heat with as little going on around them as possible and maintain your electrics.

/forums/images/icons/smile.gif/forums/images/icons/smile.gif/forums/images/icons/smile.gif

<hr width=100% size=1>http://www.leisuremarinepreparations.co.uk
 
<<In my youth I worked on supertankers and other fuel carrying vessels and in my experience the ships carrying diesel were a greater risk because the diesel burns at a higher temp. than petroleum or LPG.>>

The flash pt of Gasoline, LPG, most crides, Jet Fuels etc., is significantly lower than Gasoil - Diesel- and therefore poses a greater risk. The fact of temperature of burn is not really the point as gasoil / diesel will not normally be explosive when it ignites.

Having worked alos on tankers from 900 up to 440,000 tons - I can honestly say that the biggest catastrophes were from big crude ships when they blew .....
The gasoil ship I sailed on that caught fire in Hamburg was nothing compared to the Chemical Sol in Galveston carrying Methanol even though the gasoil vessel was twice her size. (I wil lnot name the gasoil ship as I had friends on there and wish to respect their loss).

Gasoil ships often do not have their cargo tanks under inert gas, unlike crude / gasoline and other higher risk petroleum cargoes. Ok it is true that many do - but that is because they are multi-grade carriers and it is also a ploy to stop inspectors such as mine from inspecting tanks for cleanliness before loading .... but thats another story.


<hr width=100% size=1>Nigel ... and of course Yahoo groups :
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gps-navigator/
 
Have 2 likely lads fitting out an old launch type fishing boat in our club. When they got to grp covering the new wooden cuddy, the weather was cold and the grp wouldnt go off before the wind caught the mat. So one bright spark remembered he had been told that roofers heat up the grp with blow lamps, and he decided to try it. You should have seen the grp burn, and the incredible volume of smoke given off. None of our fire extinguishers worked against it or the water hose. And thge remnants were really nasty to handle too. A lot of chopped strand mat with no binder left, blowing about in the wind.

<hr width=100% size=1>this post is a personal opinion, and you should not base your actions on it.
 
Have written a few reports ...

Been called in to report on TCL boats before ...... GRP ones are awful as it takes ages to stop the itch afterwards .....

Its like putting the loft insulation in ..... fibres and stuff all over the place, but of course GRP after a fire is black and sooty ........

Best way would have been to use a fine wide spray over-all, but of course best medium is foam.


<hr width=100% size=1>Nigel ... and of course Yahoo groups :
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gps-navigator/
 
Legally speaking the owber of the burning boat would have to pay. To acertain extent also the Marina can be held liable for aggravating the damages by letting the boat go etc. This latter liability would become worse if it is found out that the Marina did not comply with local fire prevention laws (in Italy this would be a liability under Criminal Law i.e jail and/or compensation for damages - that would add up to the Civil Liability - i.e compensation for damages)
Lucky that no one was injured.

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Pardon my ignorance...

..... why would they have to run long hoses to hydrants several hundred metres away?

Could they not just pump water straight out of the marina?

<hr width=100% size=1>It's frustrating when you know all the answers, but nobody bothers to ask you the questions.
 
Re: Terrible ... but

Yes, but your home has not 12V system. Most often fires on boats were caused on 12 V during charging or because of anadequate wiring. My oppinion is - When you are not on board switch of shore power.

<hr width=100% size=1>skipp
 
Re: Terrible ... but

The marina where we are currently berthed seems to have an interesting answer: daily rate for elect and water when in occupation. As the elect. fitting is unique it would be difficult to get round this by having our own made up. When we leave we hand in the connector, thus no charge until we pick it up again. Very few boat owners pay the extra couple of quid a day when they are not there. Seems a safe option to me - and our long term berthing fee is significantly cheaper as we 'pay as we use' for elect and water.

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