In the eyes of a marine officer the fire dept marine division may be one of the most important branches in marine safety to both the commercial and military marine vessel that sail any route. Articles concerned with marine vessel fires have already been published on many sights  but the extent of the dangers fire pose towards vessel out at sea and at harbor is far more important and fire safety is a topic the remains on the top on any vessels, port or harbors main concern.

Commercial marine vessel are capable of carrying vast amounts of cargo, this cargo may be harmless in most cases if managed correctly but pose great danger if or when mismanaged on board a vessels cargo holds. Fire on board vessels today is a bigger concern than even sinking since fire have been noted to consume a vessel in a matter of hours if not contained in time. The fire department marine division is responsible for dowsing fires on board vessel if possible both out at sea or in and around the harbor but the responsibility does stop there. It extends to inspecting and approving of fire extinguishing systems on board vessel.

 

Since some cargo carriers carry higher risk of being

engulfed by fire, they have stringent rules that must be followed on those marine vessel fire safety equipment and crew training and readiness. Different materials have different combustion levels and each vessel’s safety equipment must be inspected to make sure it meets the highest standers. Understanding the hazard beforehand could ensure that fires are avoided and vessel crew lives saved rather than fighting till it’s too late.

Some materials are not extinguishable once alight and all the crew can do is abandon ship as soon as possible. Knowing your chances of winning or losing beforehand helps save precious people lives who are willing to risk and fight to the end, cargo such as fertilizer as almost impossible to extinguish once alight, the list of highly compo stable materials is long but each vessel usually specializes in one type of cargo. The fire dept marine division is responsible for inspecting and briefing the crew concerning all eventualities that may happen to prepare them in advance.

The fire dept marine division is a respected part of the marine branches and most marine vessel try their best to maintain this levels and standers of safety even before the fire dept marine division personnel inspect the vessel. These inspection and advised safety equipment installation is for the vessel and crews safety in the first place.