3 Common Causes of Ship Fires: This Is How to Prevent Them

There are a lot of risks on the water when you’re unprepared. Ship fires are a common occurrence, and the threat continues to be the leading cause of vessel loss. A maritime accident attorney is a necessary defense to keep a company from going in the red. But even with the additional protection, prevention is still the key to success. 

1. Bad Maintenance

Ship maintenance should always be a top priority. Over time, bad parts become problematic. Like dominos, one lousy part forces another to work harder than it needs to. Some of the most common fires happen due to engine, electrical, or galley negligence. On vessels that carry flammable materials, a single fire can take out an entire section.

Containing an area becomes an impossible task when flammable materials are so close to one another. A bad stove or grill can lead to a chain reaction that spreads faster than it can be put out. Staying on top of maintenance means practicing repetition. Avoid shortcuts, and treat every check with the same diligence as the last. Looking past small faults in systems can end up as a disaster on a bad day. 

2. Untrained Workers

Workers require the same fine-tuning and care as regular ship maintenance. There needs to be a balanced atmosphere based on teamwork and ship knowledge. 

When workers aren’t team players, they go solo and try to resolve problems on their own. This leaves essential updates off of the radar as the rest of the team is in the dark. Problems that can be fixed in an acceptable amount of time take longer than needed. There is also the issue of problems being ignored and not fixed at all. Workers have a responsibility to work with the team and keep the ship environment professional. 

Being professional also means knowing how to do the job. There are some blind spots that even management can’t check for. Critical thinking is one of those spots, and it plays a significant role in how well a worker responds to work stress. Before a fire gets out of control, can they follow their training to put it out? Will, a worker, admit that they need help, or will they attempt to finish a job in an unsatisfactory way? 

Acceptable hiring practices with extensive background checks are the best answer for untrained workers. This is a slower process but beats out throwing an unqualified employee onto a trained team. 

3. Out of Date Safety Protocols

Sometimes safety protocols can change multiple times in a single year. All of these changes need to be tracked and followed by ships. Usually, a company will set up reminders about safety and training to stay up to date. When training and safety protocols aren’t set as mandatory, it becomes an issue of trust for each individual. This creates stress for the entire ship, especially when some workers are up to date while others are still behind. Staying up to date with safety training should be set as a mandatory company goal. When workers don’t know the protocols, the entire company suffers. 

Wrap Up

There are emergencies that you can prevent, and then there is the unknown. Preparing for both put you in a favorable position to withstand damage. Minimize ship fires, and other threats will seem like child’s play.