CIC Campaign Highlights Need for Continued Commitment to Fire Safety Onboard

CIC Campaign Highlights Need for Continued Commitment to Fire Safety Onboard

Wilhelmsen Ships Solutions (WSS) Business Manager for Safety Dave Evans says that preliminary results from the Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) on Fire Safety Systems underline the need for shipowners to continue to be vigilant with regards to safety practices onboard.

Evans says: “I am personally very pleased to see that the industry is starting to self-regulate and as the report shows, there are a number of lessons that can be learnt to enhance the safety of life at sea. Our particular concern at this preliminary stage is not only the number of deficiencies reported but how many of these where a result of poor quality service.”

According to results of the survey carried out between 1 September and 30 November 2012 in the Paris MoU region, over half of the ships detained in the three month period were detained due to fire-safety related issues with problem areas including fire pumps and pipes, firefighting equipment and appliances and fire control plans.

The report also states that fire safety has been in the top five of the most frequently encountered categories of deficiencies during inspections for a number of years. Richard Schiferli, Secretary General of the Paris MoU on PSC says in the report: ‘The outcome of the CIC shows that fire safety is clearly not top priority on every ship and that is a serious concern’.

The CIC questionnaire was completed during 4,014 inspections on 3,985 individual ships. A total of 1,958 CIC-related deficiencies were recorded and 103 ships were detained as a direct result of the CIC.

Evans continues: “WSS has four Fire Service Engineer training schools in key global locations which enables us not only to offer a high value quality of service, but also assist our customers and ensure that they remain compliant.”

“Working closely with Class Societies, we now carry seven global Class Approvals and we are working hard to raise the bar for fire safety services.”

The CIC was set up in 2012 as a response to figures that show that over the last 8 years, deficiencies related to fire safety systems have accounted for 14% of the total number of deficiencies within the Paris and Tokyo MoU.

Detailed results of the campaign were presented to the 46th meeting of the Port State Control Committee in May 2013, after which the report was to be submitted to the International Maritime Organization.

WSS, July 18, 2013