Fire on Board the Liberian Passenger Ship Ecstasy, Miami, Florida ...

Analysis 61 Marine Accident Reportshould revise the SMS to include processes for preventing unauthorized flame cutting,grinding, or other activities that might ignite a fire.Adequacy Of <strong>Fire</strong> Protection SystemsSprinkler SystemSprinkler systems are designed to provide an appropriate level of protection for thespace that they occupy and the amount of combustibles that are present. On the Ecstasy, apassenger cruise ship, sprinklers were installed mainly in accommodation areas, includingstaterooms and cabins. The sprinkler system, therefore, was designed for spaces thatcontained furniture, carpeting, paneling, and so forth.In the Ecstasy accident, however, conditions occurred that put unusual demands onthe sprinkler system. In the main laundry on deck No. 2, the fire’s area of origin, theignition of the comparatively small amount of lint across the floor released insufficientheat to trigger the heat-activated sprinklers in the overhead. The small flames spread firstto the mangle’s vertical exhaust ducts and then its overhead exhaust ducts where the highlint buildup fueled a larger fire. The mangle’s overhead exhaust duct, constructed ofnoncombustible metal, contained the fire, and the air flow within the duct carried the firefrom the laundry to the exhaust plenum on the mooring deck. The fire exited onto themooring deck, which lacked fire protection, and ignited the lint debris that, in turn, led tothe development of the major conflagration.Before the ventilation system in MVZs 1 and 2 was shut down, ventilation fansdrew intense heat from the large fire on the mooring deck to various ship areas that wereprotected by sprinklers, which caused them to activate. In addition, the heat from themooring deck fire was so great that it triggered sprinklers in deck areas immediately aboveand forward of the mooring deck. Although the sprinkler discharge in areas that wereremote from the mooring station had no effect on the fire and heat source, the dischargesprevented the spread of fire further into the vessel.The discharge area, that is, the number of sprinklers discharging water, was twiceas great as the design capabilities of the ship’s water delivery system. Even though thenumber of sprinklers that opened created a demand for water that taxed the water supply,the sprinkler system provided proper protection in this accident. The Safety Boardconcludes that the vessel’s automatic sprinkler system limited the spread of fire from themooring station to adjoining decks, thereby preventing a significantly worse fire thatwould have caused greater damage and perhaps additional injuries.When the Ecstasy was built in 1991, Carnival Cruise Lines had until 2006 tocomply with SOLAS requirements for automatic sprinklers. Nevertheless, the companyelected to install sprinkler protection in the Ecstasy’s cabins and staterooms at the time ofconstruction. After the fire on board the Ecstasy, Carnival Cruise Lines modified the firesuppression system of the MV Paradise, one of its ships under construction, to include