SeaLine S37 Ablaze at Cobbs Quay

[Drew64]

MCA Press office reporting that a fire broke out on a Sealine S37 at Cobbs Quay this afternoon. 4 pob 1 person injured.

Coastguard says :-

" there was a significant fire aboard the motor cruiser, we understand that one member of staff from Cobbs Quay has sustained injuries in the nature of Burns & smoke inhalation "

Andrew.

 

[PhilipF]

More about this story on this link:
http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/9831057.Man_injured_in_boat_fire_in_Poole_Harbour/

 

[carlton]

A spokesperson for Dorset Fire and Rescue said the cause of the fire was accidental and due to a fault on a bow thruster.

Never known a bow-thruster to cause a problem like this.

Could be the wiring had too small a cross-section, I s'pose. Any other suggestions?

 

[aquapower]

Never known a bow-thruster to cause a problem like this.

Could be the wiring had too small a cross-section, I s'pose. Any other suggestions?

Or incorrectly fused

 

[PaulGlatzel]

Hi. This was a lucky escape for Cobbs as whilst the vessel was seriously damaged internally the excellent decision by the MDL member of staff who arrived on scene first to not open the cabin door (which he noted was very hot) and fight the fire meant that it was suppressed long enough for the RNLI and fire crews to arrive on scene.

It was about 1600 ish and we heard from one of the MDL staff members that a boat was on fire on C pontoon. I was in a boat around the area of the drystack and we went up to C and arrived as the MDL staff were arriving at the boat. As mentioned above it quickly became apparent that it was about containment and luckily there wasn't a boat in the berth alongside. The MDL guys loosened the lines and we went bow to bow and rigged a tow line with a view to towing the boat out if it really caught. At this stage there were no flames (Just smoke and heat) so for two reasons it seemed sensible to position the boat away from the pontoons but still with lines on. The craft was on the first berth inside the hammerhead on C so therefore there was no distance to tow to get it clear of the marina if it worsened. Also there were plenty of sirens and I had checked with Portland that the Poole ILB was on route so again it seemed sensible to hold it there as the fire was still contained inside the boat.

The ILB arrived and the guys started up their pump. A couple of fireman arrived and one of our RIBs then transferred firecrew with BAs and a very large pump to the pontoon and they got stuck in.

It took about 30 minutes to bring it under control and enter the cabin and then we released our tow to allow the Sealine to tie alongside.

The reports state that a MDL member of staff was hurt. I believe this (thankfully) to be untrue.

And lessons learned?

Its a really difficult judgement call to know whether to tow the vessel clear or wait. The fact that all hatches and doors were shut suppressed the fire and had this not been the case I suspect the outcome would have been far worse.

Equally the fact that the boat was literally at the entrance to the marina meant it was going to be comparatively easy to get it clear.

The bigger the fire extinguisher the better - although in this case they would have made little difference.

So overall a lucky escape and a sobering end to the day. Thankfully and most importantly everyone was okay and it may be that the craft is fixable

Regards, Paul

 

[z1ppy]

Scary stuff, thanks for first hand report Paul and full marks by all accounts for some quick thinking people!!

 

[carlton]

Yes - thanks for the update. Glad no-one was hurt.

 

[Boristhebold]

I heard of this incident over the VHF ch16 as it was reported to the coastguard, I was surprised the coastguard asked the person reporting it for the latitude and longitude of Cobbs quay marina. I was in Poole harbour returning to Cobbs quay at the time, as the person reporting it stated they could not get in touch with Cobbs quay marina office at that time i used my mobile phone and called the dry stack guys at Cobbs quay and reported it to them who then launched into action.

There would have been about 10 minutes delay between the person first trying to contact Cobbs quay marina office and me notifying the dry stack guys at Cobbs so response was quick but I'm wondering if it could have been quicker if for example the marina office line would automatically divert to a member of staffs mobile On site after x number of rings. Just a suggestion, not criticising anyone just raising as a question as marinas are busy places and you can't man an office 24hrs a day every day there are times when people are moving around on site so if there were an emergency what would the best way of contacting staff in a marina . Open question.

 

[cem]

^^^^ yep it would be a great idea, but if they can't be bothered to communicate with their berth holders when it is not an emergency they would probably run a mile at the thought

the one and only piece of information i have had from MDL this year, (post or e mail) was my annual berthing bill, if they knew even the slightest thing about marketing a business they would be all over us with offers and information and they might not have so many spaces.

good to hear their was nobody hurt in the end, i arrived at about 6.30pm just after all the chaos had subsided.