Fire Management on Container Ships: New Strategies and Technologies

Design and construction of container ships follow consolidated requirements, with standard consideration of fire management. Indeed, cargo fires can have important consequence on crewmembers and cargoes, as well as impacting coastal zone and marine environment. Innovative strategies include prevention of events and mitigation of consequences. Digital solutions, providing with situational pictures onboard and around the vessel are fundamental for new fire management solutions, seamless and integrated into the vessel IT infrastructure, according to IMO regulations and the recent EMSA CARGOSAFE Report. The assessment of these solutions requires theoretical evaluation, validation activities in simulated environment and demonstration activities in real environments, with use cases to prove feasibility and benefits. This paper, after a review of traditional preventing and mitigating solutions against fire and an analysis of container ships fires, proposes applicable innovative technologies and operational measures, emerging problems for their potential implementation and requirements for virtual and real tests design.