In the highly specialised marine industry, professionally engineered safety systems and procedures are essential. Protecting people and property from fire while at sea can pose many unique challenges but inadequate fire protection can, in the case of a fire, expose workers to extreme dangers and cause extensive downtime.
According to fire protection specialist Wormald, thorough risk assessments will help identify the most appropriate fire protection solution to install. Garry Kwok, National Technical Services Manager with Wormald said, “In the marine industry there are many risk areas which require specialised protection methods. It is important for operators, engineers, technical staff and senior management to work closely with a fire protection specialist so that they can assess the risks and provide the most suitable solution.”
Wormald offers a complete range of gaseous fire suppression systems and support services to safeguard commercial passenger ships, bulk carriers, container ships and cargo vessels. The range of gas flooding systems includes:
• Inergen® – a gaseous fire suppression system that uses an inert gaseous agent which is designed to suppress fires without causing harm to people or damage to equipment. Inergen has the unique ability to rapidly suppress a fire yet at the same time provide a safe environment for any person working within a non immediate evacuation area, such as the ship’s bridge or critical area process rooms. The Inergen agent does not fog and obscure escape routes and is environmentally friendly. A key advantage is that Inergen inert gas can be stored remotely, up to 100 metres from the protected risk. This means a single bank of cylinders can protect a large number of areas more cost effectively than the most popular chemical agents on comparable systems.
• Novec™ 1230 fire protection fluid (SAPPHIRE™) – a system that uses an inert carbon-based chemical agent and has no harmful impact on the environment. SAPPHIRE exists as a liquid at room temperature but vaporises easily upon discharge making it an effective total flooding agent for a variety of hazards. It is ideally suited for marine applications where high margins of safety and long term sustainability are concerns. A major benefit of Novec 1230 is that it presents very low vapour pressures. This enables it to be transported in lightweight drums as opposed to steel pressurised containers so can be readily air freighted to a ship at port or dockyard. As it is supplied in lightweight cylinders, Novec 1230 requires minimal storage space.
• Carbon dioxide (CO2) systems use the original ‘clean’ agent and are traditionally used for marine applications for fire suppression in unmanned areas. CO2 can be used on many types of fires – it can flood enclosed areas or be discharged directly onto burning surface fires involving flammable liquids and most solid combustible materials. CO2 is electrically non-conductive and leaves no residue to clean up after discharge.
Wormald has extensive experience in the design, supply, installation and commissioning of marine, naval and military fire protection, safety and security systems. In Australia and New Zealand, Wormald protects hundreds of large and valuable marine assets including major cruise liners, tankers, container ships, mega-luxury yachts and naval vessels such as guided missile frigates, hydrographic survey vessels, patrol boats, submarines and amphibious vessels.
For further information about Wormald’s products and services, call 133 166 or visit www.wormald.com.au
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Inergen® is a registered trade mark of Tyco Australia Pty Limited.
Novec™ is a trade mark of the 3M Company.
SAPPHIRE® is a registered trade mark of Tyco Fire Products LP
