Lessons learned - Engine Room Fires

Educational Video about Engine Room Fires and Local Protection (Hi Fog system) used in the Engine Room.
Two accidents, both on RCCL (Royal Caribbean Cruises Line) and detailed investigations on how it happened and what should have been done differently.

[@natcalverley4344]

Excellent presentation. A lot to learn here. I have a 53 foot spencer ketch and will now be adding a engine room camera and a misting system. Thank you for this very informative video .

[@TyphoonVstrom]

I can easily see why that captain is senior VP of safety and environment, he clearly cares a lot about it, and has the knowledge and enthusiasm to talk about it clearly. Also very nice to see a hands on captain!

[@gunnarkaestle9405]

Thanks for using this video not only for RCCL internal training, but sharing it with the wider public. Nobody really wants to talk about mishaps that occured in their internal backoffice, but this is a good case study for the benefits of water mist fire extinguishing systems.

[@m_r2215]

I was on the Nordic Empress during the 2001 engine fire in this video. We got a voucher for a free cruise trip!

[@jkw427]

885Kg of Halon used, one of the most veracious Ozone destroyers known. Can NOT be released with personal inside the room, due to it displacing all O2. Halon is allowed in only special circumstances now. To recharge a large Halon system, cost many thousands of dollars since it's closely regulated now.

[@stevepottridge3709]

pretty sure co2 displaces oxygen. halon turns toxic at high temp

[@evanstauffer4470]

@@stevepottridge3709 That is correct. CO2 extinguishes fire by displacing oxygen (hence it poses a suffocation hazard.) Halon interrupts the combustion chain reaction. At high temperatures, Halon breaks down, producing toxic byproducts.

[@boataxe4605]

Thanks Capt, I'm going to show this to my crew!

[@gregmarino7325]

Glad this cruise company doesn't use the Carnival Cruise Line theory of fighting fires. Carnivals "let's wait and see how it goes before we..." well...you get the point. Too may of Carnivals fire scenarios have gotten WAY out of control in the past. Lack of crew training and profits over pax safety likely the reason? You betcha! Good video. No question what cruise line we'll be taking in the future.

[@maerzen77wellcome]

Keeping all engines together in one single machine room is a huge security issue. One room per engine, separated by a firetight wall should be worth the price for not to be completely out of control in case of an emergency on one of these engines...

[@cmsracing]

You must have been in the Navy! Flange shielding prevents spray of flammable liquids on Navy ships.

[@johnsinclair2231]

What an interesting video so factual. Well presented and to the point. If not mistaken has Captain Wright taken on a new role with a larger ship. Will sail with this guy anytime. Thank you.👍👍

[@AhmedAdly11]

Very professional video.

[@bobbj77]

Fantastic work guys

[@rjwiuff]

That voice is awesome!

[@amesavis]

dude is such a stud. just marvellous

[@masonmethot3186]

11:02 "Unfortunately, he was not hurt in the explosion..." Did I hear that right?

[@ZacShepherd]

Haha no he said "and fortunately he was not hurt".

[@masonmethot3186]

ApexGaming Baz Ah, alright :D

[@WTFisCollege182]

He actually died...

[@seikibrian8641]

@@WTFisCollege182 "He actually died..." Care to cite a source?

[@WTFisCollege182]

@@seikibrian8641 met a guy who worked there

[@caseychesh]

Impressive!

[@ryanclarke2161]

6 minutes until sprinklers activated!

[@Captain_Spaulding_01]

The ultimate voice!

[@HighAway]

i wish this gets remastered so i could read the text with ease.

[@thatguyalex2835]

Or use a better camera. This is a potato. :) By the way, I am not a ship captain or naval / safety engineer. Just a young 20 something year old guy who likes engineering, technology and science.

[@MidnightVisions]

1) What both of these accidents have in common is the failure of marine engineers (and ships maintenance staff) to follow workcards and instructions from the manufacturer. The scam that dock side marine engineers follow is once the ship leaves their dock, they are no longer responsible for any issues, including failue to do the job properly. 2) Having the engines and generators separated into fire compartments is the best method to prevent engine room damage from explosive fires. It does not add much to the overall price of the ship, but even if one engine or generator destructively fails, it does not affect the rest of the engine room.

[@kaylieornelas8044]

That is true

[@sighpocket5]

Nice!!

[@ecoRfan]

Something tells me the Freedom of the Seas fire in 2015 was far worse since that ship is pretty similar to Explorer, but the fire spread up through the stack and up to the Viking Crown lounge near the top of the funnel. So the fire was burning in numerous places, but not until after it spread upwards. This is unlike how quickly the situation was handled on Explorer 13 years earlier.

[@user-jl2wd1it8h]

My finest Uganda tribal eingineeredd this. Top tribal quality no kwestion

[@oningsingson5672]

What happened to crew during fire? Why not mentioned here?

[@stephenbritton9297]

deflagration, not explosion, if you want to be technical. Cruise ships got enough crew to do this kind of stuff. In 2002 also, the US flagged Tank Vessel PATRIOT suffered a very similar engine-room fire. Total constructive loss.

[@carlrosales6242]

what did you learn about this video??? TY for the answer

[@CMYUJAMES]

The poor guy have never be seen again

[@skiman0999]

Assuming the back ground engine noise was not a film producers post production addition, where is your ear protection and teh rest of your PPE, sir?

[@TyphoonVstrom]

Noise exposure isn't just measured in Db, but time of safe exposure. Plenty of relatively high Db areas have safe exposure times that allow you to get in, shoot 5 mins of video, and get out.

[@wilsjane]

It would not have been possible to record the dialogue with the main engines running. A time must have been chosen when only pumps, compressors and perhaps one generator were in running. A ships engine room is never completely silent unless the ship is in dry dock and obtaining electricity from the shore.

[@bulgingbattery2050]

Maybe if you put the engine in the radiator so fire doesn't make it out with the coolant got too hot?

[@bardsleypatrick]

What is the intro song

[@gearworks763]

Everyone talks about how these ships are cheap death traps and stuff, when in reality these ship makers have produce hundreds of ships only to have a few experience minor issues. Most of the time it was a neglate of a little maintence on some screws, not to much to worry about. It doesnt matter how much the zhop costs, the Navys USS Zumwelt expirenced some minor issues itself, anr it costs a billion dollars.

[@stuartzianedieselengineer475]

Didn't they replace the erosion plug? It's difficult to believe that the only damage was to a sensor!

[@antonrudenham3259]

You can't be diesel engineer and ask such a dumb question at the same time!Or were you not serious?

[@stuartzianedieselengineer475]

+ANTON RUDENHAM Of course it wasn't a serious comment, but he did say they only had to replace a $500 sensor... Perhaps I didn't write the comment sarcastically enough to show I wasn't serious. Not only am I a diesel engineer, but I'm a former seagoing Chief Engineer who has worked on plenty on Wärtsilä engines.

[@MrPLC999]

When there's an engine fire on an airliner, pilots still haven't figured out that you need to kill the fuel pump for that engine (and ONLY that engine).

[@matthewgosling943]

theres a famous case at glasgow where the pilots stopped the wrong fuel pump, so the working engien was stopped, at the same time the engine on fire failed and self extinguished, they ended up gliding short of runway and crashing

[@neilstemp7137]

What about Fire proof suit for the men entering after fire

[@matthewgosling943]

they have those. But obviously a senior engineer wanted to enter and assess the situation, and not send a fire party all adrenaline up spraying sea water from a hose every where. They must of thought the fire was out so he entered with BA to double check, and if it was still going they would re-use water mist.

[@TheDrloboski]

Ok, three questions,. One, why didn't they add some bond-able lock tight on the bolt they didn't torque down as well as all the others? Two, Why is it not a better idea to use Liquid Nitrogen as a additive on the misters? Then you could adjust the level of air to any height you want off the floor as well as the water temp and still keep air to labor till emergency staff gets in there. And probably the most important question, How offend do they take those side panels off to inspect for leaks?, I mean it be a rule for me as a captain every hour, even if I had one man just for that job. . You know you should be able to see the leak possibly days before. If the bolt blew out still screwed in, then use the heavier cage bolt for strength. I think with the correct inspection you could of caught the problem before it ever happened. For my self, id of added fuel sniffers and that would of sent the alarm to the control room just from the fumes before a fire ever would of started. Great video, If I had to go on a cruise, That ship and captain would be my choice .

[@antonrudenham3259]

One/ The erosion plug is part of a fuel injector and fuel injectors are very sensitive to any foreign material contamination plus there is no need for Loctite if the bolt is torqued correctly, it just will not come undone accidentally. Two/ There is no need to add anything to a Hifog system, the atmosphere in a space in which Hifog is activated remains habitable throughout, this means that firefighting teams and more importantly rescue teams can enter the space and remove anybody knocked down during the initial incident. Three/ Main engines used to have their "innards" exposed just as you suggest but ask yourself what would have happened during this incident if the fuel had not been contained by the fuel rack covers on these modern engines? An inch thick jet of heated fuel oil at 7.5 bar would have sprayed onto the ignition source and atomised into the atmosphere resulting in an all engulfing fireball is the answer. That's why we have covers on fuel systems nowadays, it used to be thought that it made more sense to be able to see everything, and it did make sense back then, until the advent of modern, sophisticated sensors and pressure monitors. Hope this helps friend.

[@yosefmacgruber1920]

I think that liquid nitrogen would be too complicated, and perhaps less effective. Nitrogen is not a liquid at room temperature, and the cost of chilling liquid nitrogen would likely be very high, compared to the much lower cost of even large water tanks. Due to sub-freezing temperatures of chilled nitrogen, might the pipes become brittle or perhaps it would interfere with other systems due to dripping of condensate water or ice build-up? I seriously doubt that colder = more cooling effect upon a fire. Rarely are complicated systems that simple. You don't use liquid nitrogen in your home or car air conditioner. Nor in your refrigerator nor freezer. Why not? The obvious reason would be lack of affordability, secondly, no need, as it does not match the application. Fire suppression systems obviously need to be low-cost, so that they can be applied to more areas that might experience fires, such as stoves and deep-fat fryers in the kitchen for example. Areas unlikely to experience fuel or grease fires, likely would only need basic fire sprinkler heads. Also, people need oxygen to breathe, and if nitrogen or halon replaces the breathable air, then there are delays involved in requiring the area to be evacuated of any possible people inside. I think the video made it clear that misting or fog systems can be deployed immediately without requiring prior evacuation. Removing such delays help prevent fire growth and damage to equipment. You have to also remember, in an emergency situation, there exists huge potential for errors to be made. People can not make instant decisions as well as "Hindsight is 20-20", unless they have had plenty of relevant and recent training. Thus, the simpler and safer that a fire-suppression system is, the fewer the errors that would be expected. Ideally, such a system should be simple enough as to either be self-activated as with home or business fire sprinkler heads sensing heat, or computer-activated, in case the fire management station is not currently being manned by anybody. I do not think that leaks can be inspected for every hour. That is just unrealistic. Additional sensors would likely be more cost-effective than hiring extra staff for such menial work. A ship would probably be doing good just to have a safety hallway patrol hourly, looking for things such as smoke or unusual scents coming from unoccupied decks, somebody passed out lying in a hallway, noisy arguments, etc.

[@TheDrloboski]

Question Yosef, if its not compressed it won't stay really cold?. If not just what does it take to stay so chilled?. Serious question friend...

[@yosefmacgruber1920]

thedrloboski stevens What are you talking about? You made vague references that are not clear. Nitrogen is not a liquid at room temperature, so either it takes a thermos bottle or canister to keep it very much chilled, or a lot of pressure to keep it contained in liquid form. It is not so much the coldness, but the ability to absorb heat, that makes an agent a good fire suppressant. Water has a high heat capacity, as it takes a lot of heat energy to bring water to the boiling or steam level. Isn't that largely why water cools our car engines? The antifreeze additives are mainly for corrosion resistance and to extend the liquid temperature range of water. Water is also quite cheap. Presumably in a fire, you do not want your fire suppressant to run out before the fire is suppressed, a potential problem with using fire suppressants that are expensive. It looks like maybe you were asking what makes liquid nitrogen so cold? It is because at normal atmospheric pressure, nitrogen boils at a very low temperature. Apparently nitrogen molecules do not have a high level of cohesive attraction. The act of boiling a liquid, requires a lot of heat from the ambient environment. The more heat added, the more nitrogen that boils off. Does your pan on the stove burner, become red-hot like the burner element, as the water boils vigorously inside? No, it generally does not, because the boiling water is robbing much heat from the pan. Supposedly this effect is so great, that a paper cup filled with water, will not burn when placed in the campfire, below the water line. In science classes, the rubber ball is robbed of so much heat when placed into the liquid nitrogen, that it falls below the temperature at which it can be elastic, and it shatters like glass when bounced onto the floor. But this does not at all mean that nitrogen has a high heat capacity. Water would more likely effectively cool a hot ball, but not to the ridiculously-cold levels that we were wanting to achieve. BTW, have you ever wondered why there used to be just literal sheets of ice falling off of rockets blasting off? Why did they choose hydrogen and oxygen for fuels? Well according to some article at howstuffworks.com, rocket engines use their fuel, as a coolant pumped around the rocket nozzles, to keep them from melting from the intense heat. Since the fuel is being rapidly burned off anyway, there is no need to cool it after it has been heated by cooling the rocket nozzles. Not many potential fuels, can be pre-chilled to ridiculously cold temperatures, without them becoming frozen, however hydrogen and oxygen have to become very cold to freeze. Water would not make a good coolant for rocket engines, since water is heavy and can not be burned. Now in modern times, I think they might be using more solid chemical fuels, and more insulation, so you might not see the sheets of ice falling so much as before.

[@TheDrloboski]

Just a few last questions.. Just how much pressure does it take to keep it cool. Lets say if you had 3500 gallons of it, How strong would a tank have to be? One or two inches thick?,

[@basagulerosacebu6274]

I hope someday RCL hires me, my application was submitted almost 3 years ago. I am an oic-ew lisenced. but no luck at all . @Boat axe thank you

[@theteamedward108]

i did not know that but thats cool

[@niagaraproductionshd3800]

This is the captain of oasis of the seas

[@FeatherFoot_VRC]

Niagara Production 's HD That’s Bill Wright, he’s Senior Vice President , Marine Operations for Royal Caribbean.

[@bobl78]

and what caused the explosion ?

[@boataxe4605]

Deaf, dumb or both?

[@oforid2227]

what about that guy next to the engine did he die

[@oldwarrant4]

Why wasn't Halon released at the outbreak of the fire after the crew evacuated the space? If there is an installed halon system, there should have one Halon dump before re-entry and two dumps if the fire isn't out before re-entering the space. Do they have bilge sprinkling? If they don't there will be a flash back from all the fuel sloshing around down there. Something needs to be applied to the bilges to break the vapour barrier in any engine room fire. Maybe the high fog system does this. Initial Re-entry shouldn't be done unless the crew is a hose team dressed out in Fire Fighting Ensembles in case of flash back.

[@frankdrebin8785]

isn't halon forbidden ?

[@yosefmacgruber1920]

Why would halon be forbidden? Because people have to be evacuated due to halon displacing the oxygen? From what kinds of places is halon forbidden?

[@frankdrebin8785]

+Yosef MacGruber is proven to kill the ozone , wich protect us from sun uv.

[@yosefmacgruber1920]

Florin Mugur Stepanov The ozone depletion/hole myth, apparently is such an embarrassment to the liar mad-scientists, that it isn't much discussed anymore. Lightning produces ozone. Do you have any idea how many lightning strikes there are per day, worldwide? I do not understand some of these gas-based fire suppression systems. If hi-fog is so effective without the bad side effects, like having to evacuate the area before its deployment, then why isn't hi-fog or water misting systems used everywhere? As I understand it, halon was often used around vital computer equipment, because it was an inert gas that would stop combustion, without damaging the computer equipment. Water is not so good around electronics. A big argument for home residential sprinkler systems, is that they reduce property damage, and that they use but a tiny fraction of the water that the fire department will use when they show up. However, on the other side of the argument, is the cost and the need for affordable housing, and that most every home already has at least 2 exits. Also, there are issues with the water lines for the sprinkler systems, becoming frozen and perhaps thus bursting. As with a lot of things, personal choice seems to be the obvious answer.

[@frankdrebin8785]

+Yosef MacGruber forward all this to environmentalists behind tier-euro standards. good luck.

[@bshaun2]

He is the captain of The Oasis. Or he was

[@scowell]

Original plug was most definitely not safety-wired!

[@TASMAN-1]

In the first instance no questions raised about who performed the work on the fuel line, only changes to safety systems already in place. Seems defeatist to make changes that only affect the final outcome. Why not stop idiots doing important work on ship engines? Maybe check their credentials before inviting them onboard with their toolbox to do work. Just a thought.

[@itsnotjacksokeepscrolling6662]

Meanwhile on the Costa Concordia

[@looniebinuk]

Concordia was idiotic and careless actions of the master of the vessel and lack of training and direction towards crew members. Working for a cruise line there are all sorts of incidents that not even most crew members are aware that have happened let alone guests. Cruise ships are not a death trap, they have well trained crew members (Well at least the company i work for) that can deal with any situation that arises and 99% of the time you wouldn't even be aware anything has happened.

[@dennistricsko1882]

J4CKAR0O the

[@fredfadungy1925]

im not getting on one of those death traps

[@boataxe4605]

Fred Fadungy You need to look at the stats of how many people have died on cruise ship vs how many have sailed on them, especially in the last fifty years or so, they are NOT death traps! In a large part due to Captains such as this gentleman!

[@rgj5832]

Couldn't agree more!

[@beamngdrivemoments4507]

Fred Fadungy the only death trap is a plane. And pool drains. You have hours to escape a cruise ship sinking or on fire, you have not even a second to escape a plane crash.

[@TASMAN-1]

Hey Valgo... Costa Concordia ? Ring a bell ? I wouldn't want to be stuck on one of those lawless bastards either!

[@ph11p3540]

Then don't drive a car. Cars are the most deadly form of transportation.

[@kaylieornelas8044]

You explaind how water reduce the heat and the oxygen that feds fire but you missed one enomey of fire earth you need to all need to remove flammable abjects from make the fire worst then it is by doing that your proventing the fire in the beginning before one starts

[@user-mc7sy9zm9k]

Oooo

[@Flickchaser]

loose bolts on a fuel pipe flange ? Not safety wired ? Is it considered politically incorrect in the maritime industry to come behind and inspect someones work when a thorough inspection of bolt type(s) nut, washers and torque could have possibly saved 8 million bucks ?

[@goodwindmaritimeservices57]

Actually it is very common. However on a ship that size overseeing the contractors that come on board becomes a very burdensome task.

[@ljmike1204]

i think that crew member,s underwear wure lost in the explosion i would have poopt a little to :P

[@GlitterDiva1111]

11:45 Demon face😵

[@conantdog]

The first lesson learned is use a torque wrench and have qualified people doing qualified professional work on fuel lines. Amazing a cobbled together fuel line on a multi-million dollar cruise ship , and again that was not torqued correctly wow who do you have working on these ships.

[@TheMightyKinkle]

11:03 Ha, you said UNfortunately, he was not hurt'. So you wanted him to get hurt! You should have said 'Fortunately he was not hurt'.

[@iloveRUSSIAAA]

He said AND fortunately.

[@TheMightyKinkle]

Cessna 182a Oh yeah, my mistake

[@iloveRUSSIAAA]

No problem :P

[@zanehasty6534]

I did not know that water, containing oxygen, removes oxygen from a fire.

[@boataxe4605]

Zane Hasty It doesn't, it removes heat thus extinguishing the fire, pay attention to what he says about the fire triangle!

[@mrosenblatt]

It depends on the type of sprinkler system involved. In a traditional one that you would find on land, it's only so effective. The water molecules are so large that the heat from a fire can easily cause them to evaporate prior to hitting the fire itself. In a Hi-Fog system like you find on cruise ships, they rely on a very dense mist/fog to control the fire. Not only does it help displace oxygen (not remove it), but because the air becomes so saturated with water that the air cools the fire and surrounding area until the point it's extinguished. The amount of water that comes out of a Hi-Fog system is mind blowing. I've seen one leak and break before. It leaves more than a little bit of a mess.

[@wilsjane]

As the small droplets of water evaporate into steam they displaces the air containing oxygen from the fire.No oxygen is chemically removed.... In severe fires, it is more complex, since steam oxidizes hot metal and releases hydrogen. This is why aluminium is a problem in war ship construction. It was also contributory to the scale of the recent fire at Grenfell Tower. The water mist systems are designed to stop fire in the early stages and prevent all the problems that follow when everything heats up.

[@gunnarkaestle9405]

@@boataxe4605 By evaporating, the water droplet in the mist make a phase change from fluid to gaseous. This increases the volume by a factor of ~1000. Air (with oxygen) is therefore displaced by steam at the hot spots, that means only where the fire is and not in the rest of the room. Therefore, you can activate the mist system even if the engine room is not evacuated. The mist does not suffocate people, only the hot fire where the vaporisation takes place and no oxgen rich air will be available for the combustion process.

[@conantdog]

sounds like a lot of bad ship design bad maintenance procedures , operation of Fire extinguishing Equipment the a company trying to explain it, just one of the many dangers of cruise ships. show basic procedure of incorrectly torquing a bolt is as stupid as the first botched repair to a fuel system was inferior materials and non-professional skills as the picture showed something they should not be proud of or having to explain the solution to those problems they created by their own bad procedures